Retribution of Romance
by fictiondemon
Summary: Warning: This is dedicated to Red vs. Blue and happy endings. Now featuring Halo.
1. Chapter 1

First fanfic.

Everything belongs to the imagination of Rooster Teeth and the designers of Halo.

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Red vs. Blue

Retribution of Romance

"Man, I am so fuckin' lost," Grif said as he pulled off his helmet to better survey his surroundings. The giant cavern underneath the bases was as dark and daunting as Grif had remembered. For the thousandth time he wondered why he even contemplated going into the caves in the first place. Grif had been trying to find a secluded spot to smoke when he had heard Simmons looking for him. Not wanting to get caught and accused of damaging Simmons lungs, Grif had dashed into the caves. Grif sighed. He would have probably been better off getting a lecture from Simmons. Now he was lost and was most likely going to be mauled by killer bats, though he had yet to see any.

Grif heard a sound that made him freeze and tighten his grip on his handgun. He didn't think that anyone else would be down in the caverns. Sarge wouldn't probably even send a search party out when it was discovered that his fellow comrade was missing. Grif knew without a doubt that Sarge would be all too happy to think that his annoying orange soldier was dead, and Grif had a feeling that Simmons would feel the same way. Grif had also noticed that his radio didn't seem to be working. Simmons didn't try to call him on it, and whenever Grif tried to get through to someone, there was only silence. With his helmet dangling from one hand and his gun clenched in the other, the orange soldier continued to walk through the dimly lit caverns. He found a tunnel and followed it until it split into two paths.

"Dammit," Grif decided to take the path to the right. The tunnel opened into a larger area, the wall of the cave slanted up to his left. Gravel and dust covered the ground. There was a cry of surprise and Grif looked up to see an object barreling towards him down the slope. Before Grif could react, the bundle hit him and caused the orange soldier to topple over. Something landed on top of him and knocked the air from his lungs.

Becky tried to sit up to see what she had landed on, and she noticed that her green helmet must have fallen off when she had lost her footing and slid down the cliff. Her short blonde hair fell into her eyes as she looked down at a slightly confused man with incredibly dark eyes and brown hair. Becky gasped as she scrambled off the person. When she got her feet under her she immediately started looking for her helmet and found it a few feet away slightly covered with dust and gravel. Becky walked over and scooped it up. She dumped the dust out, but didn't put it back on until she could properly clean it. She turned back to find the orange armored man still lying on the ground, but he was propped up on his elbows and looking at her strangely.

"What?" Becky said in exasperation when he didn't say anything.

After another moment he finally answered, "You're a girl."

Now it was Becky's turn to look at him strangely, "Ya, and you're a boy."

He grinned at her response and Becky didn't expect it to be so disarming. Not knowing what he meant by his expression, she simply scowled at him. Becky knew all too well that what she had said was a lie, it was clear that the intimidating person that she had knocked over was a man.

Still grinning, he said "Aren't you gonna help me up?"

Becky rolled her eyes, "Are you injured?"

The man looked confused by the question, "No."

"Then you can get up by yourself." Becky said as she started looking for her supplies that she dropped in the fall.

"You don't have to be rude you know. After all, you're the one that knocked me over in the first place." He said as he got up and dusted himself off.

"Sorry about that, I lost my footing and didn't expect the gravel to cause me to slide." She said as she found her bag embedded on the side of the slope. She reached up and leaned over to pull it out of the rubble, but it was just out of her reach. Suddenly an orange clad hand reached above her and plucked the bag from the debris. Still leaning against the slope, Becky turned to see the orange soldier leaning over her, one hand braced next to her on the slope, the other holding out her bag. After a second he pushed away from the slope and allowed her to do the same. She had felt heat rising in her cheeks, but luckily the soldier didn't seem to notice as the redness faded from her face.

He held out the bag in front of him and reached for the zipper, "What's in here?"

Becky snatched it from him before he could open it. She sat the bag on the ground, and opened it to look inside. She sighed in relief to find that her equipment hadn't broken in the fall. She started pulling stuff out when the soldier peered over her shoulder.

"Is that a camera?" He asked as she started setting her equipment on the ground next to her. He bent down and picked the camera up only to have Becky slide it from his hand as though it were a precious child.

"Yes, and don't touch." She said as she kneeled down again and began to strategically put back her equipment.

"Why do you have all that stuff?"

Becky sighed, "I'm a photo journalist."

The soldier continued to lean over her, "Would I have heard your name anywhere?"

"It's Becky Thomsan."

Immediately, the soldier straightened, "Rebecca Thomsan?"

Becky looked up at the soldier. She didn't think he would really recognize her name. It wasn't like she was known throughout the galaxy or anything. "Yes, how did you know?"

"I think you know my mother." He said his voice strangely blank and his features somewhat hardened. Becky hadn't expected the change in expression, and she wasn't sure that she liked this stern side of him.

"What's your name?" She asked as she rose from the ground.

"Dexter Grif."

Becky couldn't have been more shocked, nor could she prevent herself from looking at him thoroughly as though she had missed something about his person. Becky remembered Mrs. Grif, and her son looked nothing like her. Becky had been doing brief interviews with members of a traveling circus, and Mrs. Grif had been the fat bearded lady of the entertainment. She remembered how the woman mentioned that she had a son and daughter whom she had left in order to follow her dream of becoming famous. Becky didn't know a whole lot about parenting, but abandoning your children just so that you could be accepted in the world didn't seem like the best decision to her. Something about the situation nagged at the back of Becky's mind, but she simply pushed it away.

"I remember your mother." Becky said, not knowing what else to say.

Grif snorted, "She's kind of hard to forget."

Suddenly, Becky realized what was bothering her, "Wait a minute, that was hundreds of years ago, how could you be alive now?"

Grif was just as equally surprised, "I could ask you the same thing."

"I traveled into the future not too long ago using light speed. I was sent to report on the remains of a great explosion that caused a rip in the pattern of time. When I was sent to the future, I reported to the government and my file was brought up saying that I had gone missing. I told them my story and the next thing that I know they have me stationed out here at Blood Gulch."

Grif avoided the reporter's eyes, "I got here through the explosion."

"What!" If Becky wasn't careful, she was going to have a heart attack, "You caused the explosion?"

"Not me exactly, our commander Sarge ended up building a bomb into Church's body, and the explosion threw all of us into the future." Becky gave him a blank look, "It's a long story."

"I bet," Becky said as she finished loading her pack, excitement coursing through her at the prospect of a huge story, "So everyone here at Blood Gulch is from the past?"

"Ya, even my sister accidentally traveled into the future."

Becky got up, her pack dangling from her hand, "Your sister is here too?"

"Yep, but she's fighting for the Blues."

"You're sister is fighting for your enemies?" Becky knew that the standard orange usually represented a color of the Red team. Becky couldn't believe that a sibling would work on an opposing side. Becky suddenly remembered something that Mrs. Grif had told her, "Isn't your sister color blind?"

"Pretty fucked up huh?"

Becky lightly shook her head, "This makes no sense."

"Tell me about it."

Becky bit her lower lip, mentally chewing all the new information that Grif was feeding her. If the government was letting people with color blindness to enter war than something strange that was definitely worth discovering was going on in this part of the galaxy. Becky had the feeling that the reason for her being posted out in the middle of no where had something to do with her discovery of the time warp that was caused by the explosion. She didn't know what was going on, but she sure as hell was going to find out. Grif looked down at her mouth as she thoughtfully chewed her bottom lip, but she didn't notice.

The woman standing before Grif was killing him, and she didn't even seem to notice his suffering. He could still remember smelling a slight scent of vanilla as he had leaned over her to get her pack out of the debris, and the way she was chewing her lip was wreaking havoc on his senses. Becky looked around and after a moment unzipped her bag and started to search through it with one hand. "I think I might have a flashlight in here. It's not so dark in the caverns that we can't see, but it might help a bit." Almost instantly, Grif came over to her and unzipped one of the side pockets of her bag.

"Could it be in here?" Grif asked as he pulled out a round object.

Becky saw what it was and immediately tried to grab it from him. Since he had already become acquainted with her snatching ways, Grif pulled it out of reach.

"Give that back!" Becky cried trying to reach for the object.

"What is it?" Grif asked as he carelessly held it over his head and grasped it tighter. They both froze when there was a sudden beeping. Grif looked up to see the object flashing a light blue as the beeping grew faster.

"Why is it beeping?" Grif brought the object down and, taking it from him, Becky threw it down the way he came. The beeping only got faster.

"Shit," Grif cursed as he grabbed Becky's hand and they ran the other way. The explosion knocked them down and Grif threw himself over Becky as debris rained down over them. When the scene settled, Grif coughed from the dust as he got off of Becky. Becky slowly got up and waved the dust out of her face as she looked behind them. Grif looked as well to see that the passage was completely blocked off. He was suddenly shoved backwards and would have fallen if there hadn't been a wall to prop him up.

"You idiot! Did I not say don't touch anything? You nearly got us both killed! You stupid, stupid, stupid idiot!" Becky said, each word followed by a hit to Grif's torso.

"How the fuck was I supposed to know that it was a bomb?"

"You shouldn't have been in my bag in the first place." Upon saying this, a look of horror passed over Becky's face and she immediately started sifting through the rubble for her supplies. Grif stood up and rubbed the back of his neck, cursing himself for leaving his helmet behind, which would have protected him from the flying object that nicked the side of his head.

"Son of a bitch!" Grif said as he ducked to avoid being hit by another flying piece.

"It's broken, all of it! Do you have any idea how expensive this stuff is?" Becky shouted as she threw another broken piece at his head.

"Look I'm sorry; I'll pay you back or something." Grif said avoiding the piece of plastic that looked like a cap to a lens.

Becky growled in frustration and started stomping down the tunnel, away from the explosion site. Grif hesitated, and then proceeded to follow her. When she suddenly spun around, Grif crouched down, expecting to get pummeled. Instead, Becky took a deep breath and said, "Okay, we'll be fine. Don't you have a radio on you to contact your base?"

Grif stood up, "I did in my helmet, but it wouldn't have worked anyway. For some reason I couldn't contact them on the radio."

Becky sighed and pulled her cell phone out of her bag to see that there was no service in the area. "Okay then, how about a search team. I'm sure that your comrades will wonder where you are and come looking for you."

"Actually, I don't think they'll even bother. Our commander Sarge has always been trying to find a way to kill me, and Simmons wouldn't care either way." Grif didn't know how Donut would feel, but something told him that it didn't really matter.

"Great," Becky said, her voice slightly catching as though she was about to cry. But instead she wiped the grime from her forehead and continued walking down the tunnel. Grif felt like shit for getting them into such a mess, and for some reason the thought of Becky being upset made him feel even worse. After a few minutes of walking in silence, Grif could hear what sounded like running water. A few moments later, they came to a large opening in the caverns. A pool of water rippled in the middle of the room as a small waterfall flooded through an opening high above them in the dome shaped ceiling. Light from the opening poured down and reflected off of the surface of the water. Grif could also see that the room was a dead end. Becky went over to the edge of the pool and looked up at the light as though it offered eternal salvation. She cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "Help! Can anybody hear us! We're down here!"

"I don't think that that's going to work. If my radio wasn't working in the first place, we're probably not even anywhere near the bases."

Becky turned and glared at him, "Do you have a better idea?"

Grif walked into the cavern and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, "Not really."

Becky walked over to him, "You smoke?"

Grif removed a cigarette from the pack and placed it between his lips.

"I can't stand guys that smoke." Becky said, still glaring at him.

"Whoopty-fuckin-do," Grif said around the cigarette as he tried to light it with a match in the damp cavern. Before the cigarette even had a chance to light, Becky grabbed the cigarette pack, snatched the cigarette out of his mouth, and threw them under the waterfall. Grif stared dumbfounded at the waterfall and then turned to glare at the journalist.

"What the fuck did you do that for?"

"I'm not going to get second hand smoke just because you're an idiot." Becky said as she walked back down the tunnel.

"Bitch," Grif mumbled as he stared longingly at the limp cigarettes that floated in the water. He turned back and followed her. He found her in a portion of the tunnel that was slightly wider than the rest of the passage. The ceiling above them reaching up and fading into darkness. Becky sat with her back against the cavern wall and started rummaging through her pack. Grif sighed and decided to sit on the opposite side of the tunnel.

Becky took out a pen and paper from her pack and looked over at him, pen poised over the paper, "Okay, I've been thinking, since we're obviously going to be here for a while, why don't you tell me the story about how everyone in Blood Gulch got sent to the future. I figured it's the least you owe me for breaking my equipment."

Grif simply crossed his arms and glared at her, "I broke your camera, and you threw away my cigarettes. I'd say we're even."

Becky gaped at him, "I hardly think that a camera could compare to a few measly cigarettes."

"Well then I guess it's all a matter of importance, isn't it?" Grif said as he tilted his chin up defiantly. Becky breathed out in exasperation when Grif suddenly looked up at the dark ceiling. "Did you hear that?"

Becky looked up as well, "Hear what?" There was silence for a moment, and then a fluttering sound reached her ears. "Probably bats."

Grif looked at her in shock, "Are you fucking serious? There really are bats in here?"

"They do live in caves you know. Are you afraid of bats or something?"

"No," Grif replied all too quickly, "Do you think that they'll come out when it gets dark outside?"

The brows on Becky's forehead drew together, "You know, it never becomes completely dark here because of the way the planet is tilted towards the sun in this solar system."

"How do you know that?

"Don't you do any research on a planet before you get stationed to it?"

"I figured why take the fun out of life." Grif said as he stood, "I think I'll go stand over by the waterfall then."

"Bats are attracted to water sources." Becky said, trying to suppress her grin when Grif stopped.

"Fine, I guess I'll stay here then, just to make sure that they don't attack you."

It felt like hours that they waited in the dark. Becky found her flashlight, but didn't really need it since the light from the waterfall cavern provided just enough brightness for the two companions to see each other. Grif also didn't want Becky to turn on the light because he believed that it might disrupt the bats. Becky shifted and could feel her clothes sticking to her body beneath her armor. She was still covered in dust and grime from her spill down the slope and had never gotten a chance to get cleaned up. Becky stood and grabbed her pack, "I'm going to go clean off in the pool."

Becky never thought that she would ever see someone come to attention so fast. Fear of bats forgotten, Grif scrambled up and dusted himself off. "I think I'll go and clean up too."

"Now? Can't you wait until I'm finished?" Becky asked as a blush started to rise in her cheeks.

"I think that we should stick together, it could be dangerous if both of us get lost in here."

"I'm only going to be thirty feet away!"

"You never know, if the bats started to attack you, I may not be able to help you in time."

Becky doubted that he would be any help at all, "Fine, but we'll still take turns. You stand behind that rock near the entrance of the cavern, and if I see even a glimpse of you, I swear I'll scream so loud that every bat in this damn cave will come and eat you."

With that she turned away and marched to the cavern. She dropped her bag by the pool and turned to see Grif get behind the rock near the entrance with a grin plastered on his face. Becky scowled as he disappeared from her sight, and she quickly began to undress. She laid her armor and clothes by the pool, and slid into the cool water. She consistently checked behind her to make sure that Grif didn't look. After she finished, she quickly got dressed and picked up her armor and pack. She let Grif know that she was coming towards the rock, and by the time she was on the other side of it, all she found was Grif's armor and clothes strewn over the cave floor. She heard a soft splash behind her and froze.

She was suddenly very tempted to look. She still couldn't understand how such an attractive man could have a mother in the circus that performed as the fat bearded lady. Maybe he had a strange disfigurement that was hidden by his armor. Heart pounding, Becky made sure that she was hidden well behind the rock and slightly turned her head. She clutched her belongings closer to her as she caught a glimpse of Grif under the waterfall, head thrown back and hands running through his dark hair. Becky found it very hard to breath. Any doubts that she had about him having any sort of disfigure was washed away. The man was gorgeous. His skin was a tad darker than her pale complexion, and his back rippled with muscle. Even his arms were well defined. As he started to turn towards her, Becky gasped and turned away. She stopped breathing, listening to see if he had seen her. When nothing happened, Becky sighed in relief that she hadn't been caught.

"It's okay," Grif said in her ear, and Becky yelped in surprise to see him leaning against the rock, the lower half of his body hidden from her view. He grinned, "I looked too."

As his words sank in, embarrassment caused her face to darken. Without thinking, Becky dropped her stuff and shoved at his defined chest. Grif lost his footing and fell back into the pool. Becky turned, picked up her stuff and walked away, her emotions seething when she could hear him chuckling.

Becky was pacing in the second cavern when Grif came back. The furious look on her face causing Grif to grin. He thought she looked so cute when she was angry, her gray eyes flashing like daggers at him. He had dressed in his regular clothes, but hadn't bothered putting his armor back on. He took his armor to where he had previously sat, and threw it all into a pile. He sat down next to it, laced his fingers behind his head, and leaned back as he smirked up at her scowling face. She turned away from him without a word and sat next to her own armor. She opened her bag and pulled a blanket out to settle over her lap. She reached back into her supplies and pulled out what Grif noticed was a granola bar. The thought of food made Grif realize how hungry he was, and he quickly looked in his pouch within his armor that held his secret stash of sweets. He pulled out a pack and took off the wrapping. When he took a bite of the Twinkie, he saw Becky grimace, "How can you eat that?"

Grif looked down at the Twinkie, "What have you got against Twinkies?"

Becky shrugged, "I just figure that if you're going to have something sweet, you might as well have something worth busting your diet for. That's why I bake my own desserts."

Grif looked up at her, ignoring his treat, "You bake?"

"Yep, I'm really good at making brownies and lemon bars. I also like to make apple pie and cookies though." Grif found himself drooling, and it wasn't from the Twinkie. "Do you eat that kind of stuff all the time?" Becky asked him, causing him to focus back on the conversation.

"Whenever I get the chance," Grif said as he took another bite out of his Twinkie.

Becky looked at his body, "How the heck do you stay in shape. If I started eating stuff like that, I'd blow up like a balloon."

"Just good genes I guess."

"Would those genes be from your father?" Becky immediately regretted the question when Grif's face went blank.

"I never knew my father." He said in a voice that sent chills up her spine.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to sound like that. I just meant that you look really good, considering how you eat."

"It's alright; I stopped caring about what people thought a long time ago." The statement somewhat surprised her, and it made her see Grif slightly different. She could see him as a boy, knowing that his mother had left to join a circus. She couldn't even imagine what he might have gone through, or what sort of treatment he received from other people. Becky felt herself relax when his features softened, but her calm was broken by what he said next. "Liked what you saw did you?"

Becky immediately bristled, "I didn't mean that either."

Grif looked down at his second Twinkie, "Maybe this stuff has an opposite affect on me. Perhaps when I start eating healthy, I'll start to gain weight."

Becky rolled her eyes, "Ya right."

Grif got up and walked over to her. He crouched down in front of her and placed the Twinkie right in front of her face. "Come on, you know you want to try it."

"I'd rather eat cow tongue." Becky said as he took a small bite from the Twinkie.

"Mmm, it tastes so good." He said as he waved it in front of her like he was trying to entice a dog.

"I don't want any." Becky said as she grabbed the Twinkie to shove it away. Instead, the creamy contents inside the Twinkie splattered all over her neck and dribbled down her shirt. Grif burst out laughing as Becky glared at him, "It's not funny!"

"You're right, it's hilarious!" Grif said as he sat down and continued to laugh. He held up the packet with the squished contents and tried to withhold his laughter so that he could speak, "That's what you get for coming between a man and his Twinkie," With that said, he doubled over and laughed harder.

Becky slapped his arm, getting some of the cream on his shirt, "That's disgusting." As Grif continued to laugh, Becky scooped a big glob of crème off of her neck and when Grif came up to breathe from his laughing; Becky slapped the crème on his cheek. He sat stunned for a moment and Becky smirked in triumph, "That's what you get for pissing me off." Not in the least bit disturbed that he had crème on his face, Grif laughed again, and this time Becky joined him.

After a moment when they were finally able to catch their breath, Grif looked at Becky, his lips still twitching. "You're going to pay for that."

"Oh really?" Becky said with a chuckle, drinking in the expression of his smile.

"Yes, really," Grif said, and before Becky even knew what he was doing, he was pressing her against the wall, licking the crème from her neck.

Heat slammed into Becky so hard that she became dizzy with it. His tongue was laving the crevices of her throat, making her pulse quicken. As his lips sucked a bit of crème from her jaw, Becky gasped and tilted her head back to give him more access. Grif lifted his head to look into her eyes, a silent question within his own. With one hand braced on the wall next to her, he leaned his head down and kissed her. Becky shivered as warmth spread through her, and she returned his kiss. Within seconds they were both melting against each other. Becky found herself lying on her blanket on the cavern floor, and Grif pressing against her. She arched up into him as he continued to lick the crème from her neck. His mouth continued onto her chest and she vaguely remembered him striping off her shirt and pulling away to take off his own. Becky whimpered at the loss of contact and Grif quickly discarded his shirt as he claimed her lips with his own. His hands deftly caressed her stomach, and caused Becky's breath to hitch when he touched her breast. Grif slowly worked his way down to clean the rest of the crème from her skin. Unable to resist, Becky tilted her head and licked the crème from his cheek, his stubble slightly scratching her tongue and lips. Grif groaned at the contact. Doing a bit of exploring of her own, Becky ran her hands down his chest and reached for the seam of his pants. Grif hissed at the contact and quickly took off his pants and stripped hers away. She reached out to him as he returned to kiss her and she gasped in surprise at the feel of his skin against hers. He broke the kiss and looked down at her. Very slowly, he slid himself inside, watching her expression. Becky cried out and dragged him back to her as they moved together, their tempo increasing at every moment until they were both covered in sweat. Becky cried out in her climax and Grif stiffened above her as he came inside her. They both collapsed into a heap on the floor and curled against one another. The waterfall was the only other sound besides their breathing.

Grif was lying on his back, looking up at the dark ceiling of the cavern, not very much concerned about bats anymore. Not with Becky lying across his chest, her hand running through the light trail of hair on his stomach.

"Dex, why do you think your mother left?" She asked idly.

Grif sighed; he didn't really feel like talking about his mother with a gorgeous girl draped over him, but the way she was stroking him was like a seduction to his senses. "I don't really know. She probably thought that life would be better for me and Kaikaina if she wasn't around, but when she started getting publicity, it seemed to defeat the purpose."

Becky's hand stilled, "That's how you knew my name."

"It doesn't matter now."

Becky shifted so that she was looking down into his face, "You had to take care of your sister all by yourself didn't you?"

Grif shrugged, "Not for too long. I got drafted into the army after I got out of high school. I kept sending her money so that she could get an education, but she ended up getting kicked out anyway from cheering for the wrong teams." A confused expression crossed Becky's features. "She's not very bright. Why do you think she joined the Blues instead of the team that her brother was on?"

Becky was silent for a moment, "I bet there's something more behind this war, and I'm sure that I can find out what it is." Her gaze came back to him, her eyes dancing with excitement. Grif adored the look, but he couldn't help but feel that she was only with him now so that she could get a story. Then she grinned, "Would you mind terribly if I set out to end the war?"

Grif forgot his doubts, instead feeling hope at the prospect that the war could be ended. "Hell no, I fuckin' hate this war. I have pretty much done everything possible in order to get kicked out of it. I even fall asleep during the meetings and forget to bring extra ammo for our guns."

Becky blinked, "How do you expect to kill your enemies without bullets?"

"That's the thing, I can't stand fighting. Its way too much work. I can't even jog around the base without getting tired."

He could see that she was trying to hide a smile, "You better be careful. With smoking, gorging on sweets and not getting enough exercise, that weight problem is bound to catch up with you." She said as she patted his stomach, "I don't think I'd like you that much if I had to roll you around and secure you with an oxygen mask."

Grif chuckled as he brought her lips down to meet his. Something down the tunnel rumbled, and they both looked up at the sound. "What was that?" Grif asked as Becky got off of him. There was another rumble that caused dust to fall from the ceiling. Becky quickly picked up her clothes and got dressed before putting her armor on, and Grif got up to do the same. They both went over to where the rumbling grew louder, which was where the bomb had exploded.

"It sounds like someone is trying to blast through." Becky said.

The rocks that covered the exit shifted and Grif grabbed her hand to pull her away. A large explosion erupted and they both crouched down to the ground, Grif shielding Becky from any flying rubble.

"Grif! Grif! Are you in here? Answer me dammit!"

Grif slowly got up and turned towards the now clear passage. He squinted into the settling dust, "Simmons?"

The maroon soldier walked out of the cloud of dust towards them. Upon seeing them he turned around and shouted, "He's in here!"

Becky got up as well to see the maroon soldier remove his helmet to reveal a handsome man with sandy blonde hair and green eyes. The maroon soldier walked over to Grif and stood in front of him, not saying anything.

Finally, Grif said "Took you guys long enough."

This caused the maroon soldier to quickly and fiercely embrace the orange soldier. He pulled away and glared at Grif as he gripped his comrade's shoulders, "Don't you ever try to pull this shit again, you understand?"

Becky could see that Grif was stunned, "Ya, sure."

"I'm fuckin serious Grif."

"Alright, fine."

Simmons sighed and released his shoulders. Then he grinned, "Cock sucker."

Grif grinned back, "Kiss ass."

Becky shook her head at this, and the maroon soldier finally noticed her. He stared at her for a moment and then looked back at Grif. "You've been stuck down here with a girl?"

"Bow chicka bow," Grif started to say until Becky cuffed his ear, "ow!"

"We'll have none of that," Becky said as she saw a red soldier come out of the dust towards them. As the dust cleared, she could also see a tank, and a driver that was wearing pink armor.

"Ha, ha, good work Simmons. Now we have a proper decoy for when we attack the Blues," the commander said in a gruff voice, "Considering that no one likes Grif in the first place, I'm surprised we even bothered looking for him, but now I can clearly see your line of thinking Simmons."

With that said, Becky marched up to the commander, and glared at her reflection in his visor with her hands on her hips. "I like him. You got a problem with that tomato can?"

Grif couldn't help it, he smiled at this. Here was Becky, standing at her full height against Sarge, the top of her head barely reaching the commanders chin, and she was defending Grif. Something churned inside Grif at the scene. It was some kind of feeling that Grif was not going to even contemplate, considering how his emotions had been on a roller coaster ride ever since he had met this woman. He was brought from his thoughts when Simmons nudged him, "Looks like you got a girl Grif."

Grif continued to smile, "Ya, looks like I got a girl."


	2. Chapter 2

I have decided that this series is going to consist of short romances with only a hint of a background story connecting each of them. For the most part they will take place after the Blood Gulch chronicles and I will post if the time changes.

I apologize to all Tex and Church fans since I paired Church with someone else.

All characters belong to Rooster Teeth, including Tucker's sister.

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Red vs. Blue

Retribution of Romance

Church found it strange how his possessed body seemed to be changing. Perhaps it was because it was being affected by the presence of his ghost. The undefined features of the android were beginning to resemble his original body more and more. The face was becoming more angular, and the hair had seemed to darken to his original color. He decided to blame his weight problem on the android form. He could tell that his body no longer looked as healthy as his original appearance. He no longer had defined abs, and his arms were beginning to lose their original sculpted look. Church sighed. He supposed that it was better than having no body at all; he would just have to find out how to adapt to this one. He turned from the bathroom mirror and went to his room to begin putting on his cobalt blue armor.

There was a new soldier being sent in this afternoon, and everyone had to be prepared for the arrival. Since Red base had acquired another member for their team, Command had thought it was necessary to send another Blue soldier to balance the odds in Blood Gulch. Tucker still made a point to complain that the Reds had an actual girl, which didn't put Kaikaina in a good mood. Church still couldn't believe it himself. They were stationed out in the middle of nowhere, and yet Grif had managed to find a girl. The Reds had stolen their tank in order to find their comrade in the underground caves. Church grinned maliciously at the thought of getting back at the Reds. He finished donning his armor as he stepped outside and made his way to the top of the base where he could here voices already conversing. He saw that the rest of his team were already there, surrounding a figure in dark blue armor. The only member absent was Kaikaina. Tucker turned to him excitedly.

"Church, it's a girl. We've got another girl! You know what that means."

"Co-ed softball team?"

Church was about to tell Caboose to shut up, but he had to stop himself. He realized that it wasn't Caboose that had spoken; it was the new team mate. Apparently Tucker had noticed as well.

"Great, now we have two idiots on our team."

"Who are you calling an idiot? Lavi, don't you recognize me?" The new soldier questioned.

"What?" Tucker asked in surprise.

The new soldier proceeded to take off her helmet to reveal a tan face with big brown eyes and wavy brown hair that came to her shoulders. Though breathing was only a habit rather than a necessity for Church, he had to remind himself to breathe. Church noticed the resemblance between the rookie and Tucker.

"Emily? What the hell are you doing here?" Tucker asked.

"I'm helping to fight the war."

"No, I mean what are you doing in the future."

"Oh, well, I kind of found out how to use the light drive. When I found out that you were transported to the future too, I immediately requested to be stationed out here with you."

"You know this girl?" Church asked as he walked up to the group.

"Of course I do, she's my sister."

"Sister?" Church asked, "You didn't mention that you had a sister."

"No one ever asked me."

Emily rolled her eyes, "You never were a very good conversationalist unless there were girls around that you had to impress." Church chuckled and Emily looked at him. "Are you the Commander?" She asked somewhat timidly.

"Unofficially," Church said as he removed his helmet. He smiled slightly as she looked at him curiously, "Welcome to Blood Gulch."

Emily could feel her heart skip as she looked at her Commanding Officer. He was much younger than she had expected. He couldn't have been much older than her brother. He had black short cropped hair and striking blue eyes. Her thoughts were distracted when the other Blue soldier named Caboose spoke.

"You seem like a regular girl, but I was told that all girls are mean."

Emily tilted her chin up defensively, "Whoever told you that is a bitter and mean person who obviously doesn't like girls."

Tucker snickered as he turned to look at Church. Emily looked at her Commander as well to see that his smile had been replaced by a scowl. Emily looked away from him as a blush of embarrassment colored her cheeks. She was obviously not making a good impression.

Tucker cleared his throat, "Caboose, have you been surveying the Reds?"

"Yes, they seem to be performing some sort of ritual." Caboose said in his slow speech. Church looked over at Caboose, the scowl gone from his face.

"What kind of ritual?"

"I was unable to ascertain exactly." Caboose said in a much slower manner, as though the use of three syllable words was a strain for him.

Church grabbed the sniper rifle from Caboose and walked over to the edge of the base to see through the sniper scope.

"What are they doing?" Tucker asked from behind Church.

Church sighed in frustration, "It's not a ritual. Sarge is just having Simmons tea bagging Grif again."

"What's tea bagging?" Emily asked.

Everyone turned to her as though she just sprouted antlers out of her head. She blushed, feeling stupid for not knowing what the term meant.

Caboose was the first to answer, "It's when you put a bag of herbs into boiling water so that you can drink it. The drink is called tea."

Emily glared at the men around her, "I know that it means something else and you're not telling me."

"No, actually Caboose really doesn't know what it means either." Tucker said.

Emily felt somewhat relieved that she wasn't the only one who didn't understand.

Church lowered the rifle with a sigh, "I guess you should be the one to tell her about it Tucker."

"I'm not going to tell her, she's my sister. You tell her."

Church was surprised to feel his face flush with heat, "I'm not going to tell her. I was the one who had to have the talk with Caboose about how babies are made."

"Fine," Tucker snapped, "I'll just have Kaikaina tell her then."

Emily had a feeling that she wouldn't like what she was about to hear, but nevertheless, she followed her brother to the bottom level of the base.

Church was walking down the hall when he heard some commotion coming from Kaikaina's sleeping quarters. Emily opened the door and stormed out of the room. "That's gross." She said over her shoulder as she nearly ran into Church. She looked up at him. Her face turned scarlet as she ducked around him and headed to her own room. Church turned back to see Kaikaina walking towards him, her short brown hair hitting just below her chin as her hazel eyes looked up at him. Church felt bad that he had subjected someone like Emily to such a promiscuous woman like Grif's sister, but he figured it would be less embarrassing to have such discussions with a woman.

"Did you at least try to gloss it over a bit?" Church asked.

"I don't know how much you can gloss over tea bagging. It's pretty straight forward even though it's difficult to pull off."

Church didn't think that he would ever get use someone like Kaikaina. Kaikaina went to the main lounge while Church contemplated going to Emily's room to ask about her background and go over the one rule when joining the Blue team of Blood Gulch. He figured the background check could wait, but he might as well let her know about the one guideline. He walked over to her room and saw that she was face down on her bed, her face buried in her pillow. Church lightly knocked on the door jam to let her know that he was there. She looked up from her pillow and, seeing that it was him, pulled herself up so that she was sitting on her bed. Church still couldn't seem to catch his breath whenever he looked at her. He now understood that her big innocent brown eyes revealed more of her personality than he could have believed. She was so different from Alison. Church blocked the thought out of his mind before it had a chance to form. He tried to think of Alison as little as possible these days. It seemed to make life bearable when stuck in the middle of a boxed canyon. Church walked over and for some reason decided to sit on the bed beside Emily, as though to try and comfort her.

"You okay?" Church asked and she nodded.

"I just hate when people don't tell me something and yet they expect me to know everything." She turned to him, her eyes holding a hint of anger, "Even Lavernus still treats me like a child."

Church felt his eyebrow raise in amusement, "I suppose I could give you a tour of the base later, but I just wanted you to know the one rule that we have at the Blue base. No one under any circumstances should kill the leader."

Emily looked at him in confusion, "That seems like a strange rule; obviously no one has broken it yet."

"You'd be surprised," Church mumbled as he rose from the bed to leave. "I'll let you know what your duties are when your shift starts in another hour. Until then you are free to spend your time as you like."

Emily smiled as she reached under her bed and pulled out a box, causing Church to stop in the doorway.

"What's that?" He asked curiously.

"It's a puzzle," She said as she stood and walked over to the doorway, "Caboose said that he liked them too, so I thought we could work on this together to pass the time."

Church felt something twist inside of him, he wasn't sure what it was, but he didn't like it. He suddenly felt very angry towards Caboose. At least, more angry than usual. He decided to ignore the strange feeling as he slipped on his helmet and proceeded to the top of the base.

The next few days passed without incident, and though there was barely anything to do at Blood Gulch, Emily always found something to occupy herself. She mostly spent her time with Caboose since no one else seemed tolerable enough to put up with him. Tucker had told her about the A.I. that had occupied his mind and had caused Caboose to suffer serious damage when it was ejected out of his brain. Emily found it somewhat refreshing to be with Caboose, though there were many times that he didn't make a lot of sense. He was like a child stuck in the body of a grown man, and feeling somewhat naïve around the other soldiers, Emily felt comfortable around Caboose. It was the Commander that unnerved her. He was always so serious, and it didn't take long for Emily to find out that he was a very angry person as well. He yelled at Caboose more often than Tucker, and he was very short tempered. Though Caboose could be difficult to work with at times, Emily didn't see why someone would be so mean to him.

One day when Emily was on top of the base with her brother, the topic of their commander came up, and Emily couldn't prevent herself from asking, "Why is Church always so angry at everyone?"

Tucker chuckled, "He's always been an angry guy, but I personally think that it has something to do with his relationship with Tex."

Emily felt her insides turn around, "Who is Tex?"

"Tex was Church's girlfriend."

Emily swallowed, "What happened?"

"She was a freelancer that was trying to help us destroy the A.I., but she ended up betraying us anyway and got blown up in a hijacked ship."

Emily winced at the sad story. At least it explained why Church believed that all girls were mean. It might even justify why he was such an angry person, but Emily didn't think that it was fair that he should take his anger out on his fellow soldiers. It wasn't until the next day that she lost her temper with her new commander.

Caboose was telling Emily in the kitchen about how he had called Tex a cow. Neither them nor their commander wore armor and instead had worn their casual clothes as they sat at the kitchen table. Tucker and Kaikaina were on duty up on top of the base, and Church was reading a newspaper.

"When we got to know her, we decided that she really didn't seem like a cow. We thought she was more like a shark," Caboose said.

"Caboose," Church said without looking up from the paper, "Shut up."

"I want to tell the story." Caboose said in disappointment.

"No one fuckin' cares about your story."

Emily slammed a hand on the table, causing both Church and Caboose to jump and look at her as she rose from her chair and glared at her commander.

"Why are you so mean?"

Church looked at her coldly, "Listen, I know that you've been sheltered for most of your life, but this is the army. This is the way life is and you're just going to have to accept it."

She pointed an accusing finger at him, "I bet I could report you as an unfit commander with the way you treat your soldiers."

Church glared at her as he slowly put down the newspaper, "You wouldn't do that."

Emily gave an unlady-like snort, "Watch me." She stood up and left the kitchen, determined to find her cell phone in her duffel bag. She was walking down the hallway when a hand grabbed her upper arm and dragged her into a darkened room. The door shut and there was a second of blackness before the light above them turned on to reveal a very angry Church glaring down at her.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't threaten me in front of my soldiers." He told her.

"You threaten your soldiers all the time!"

"That's different, I outrank them."

"Is this another one of your tactics for abusing people, you lock them in cleaning closets?" Emily said as she gestured to the shelves of cleaning products and mops propped in one corner.

"Ya, I figured that since you were going to report me, I might as well break a few more rules and lock you in the closet." Church said sarcastically.

Emily tilted her chin up, "You're nothing but a big bully."

"I'm much worse than a bully."

"You don't scare me. I'm not as innocent as everyone thinks I am. I can be very dangerous."

Church already knew that she was dangerous, but probably not in the same way that she was thinking. He quirked an eyebrow in amusement, "Prove it."

Emily rolled her eyes, "I'd rather not. You might get hurt."

Church chuckled, "No, prove to me you're not an innocent."

"What?" Emily seemed surprised. Church knew that he was exploring just how dangerous Emily could be, but he couldn't seem to stop himself in enticing her. He found it charming when she blushed.

"You heard me," Church said as he walked towards her, causing her to back into the metal shelves, "Prove to me you're not an innocent."

She looked up at him with widened eyes, unable to escape the corner she had backed herself into. "I don't see why I should have to prove anything to you."

Church shrugged, "I guess your right. You're just a child after all."

Church knew that he had said the right thing when her eyes sparked in anger. Very quickly, she came towards him and pressed her lips to his. Just as suddenly, she pulled away. She looked down at the floor as her face reddened. Church stood for a moment, slightly shocked at how the small kiss had affected him, but then he couldn't help but chuckle. Emily looked up and glared at him.

"What's so funny?"

Church continued to smile as his hand came up to tilt her chin. "You call that a kiss?"

Emily didn't have time for the shock to register when his lips pressed into hers. She froze, not knowing what to do as his lips moved over hers. Gradually, she felt herself melting, and slightly opened her mouth as his tongue slid through her lips. She sighed as he continued to kiss her tenderly, and she hesitantly touched her tongue to his. Church groaned as his arms wrapped around her to press her body fully against him. The kiss suddenly became more heated, and Emily felt the metal shelves dig into her shoulder and hip as Church pushed her farther into the closet. He devoured her lips as one of his hands reached under her shirt and slid over her skin. When his fingers stroked over her breast, Emily gasped as she felt heat sear through her stomach and cause it to tighten. His lips left hers to trail them down her jaw and over the hollows of her throat. His fingers then trailed down her stomach and hooked into the waist line of her sweats as though to pull them down.

"Leonard?" Emily could hardly hear her own voice, but it was all she could manage. She couldn't understand what was happening, and she had become frightened with uncertainty of where it would lead. When she said his name, he froze. Ever so slowly, he lifted his head to look into her eyes.

"Jesus," Church said in a choked whisper, "I'm sorry, I didn't think that that would happen." He couldn't believe that he had nearly taken her in the fuckin' closet up against a shelf with cleaning supplies. What the hell was wrong with him?

"What happened?" Emily asked.

Church chuckled, but it came out more strained than he would have liked, "I lost control."

Emily looked up at him in confusion as he started to pull away, "Doesn't that usually happen?"

"No," Church said, the answer surprising him, "Not usually." He looked at her with piercing eyes and she looked away. He didn't know what had come over him. Was it because she was an innocent? Church had no doubt in his mind that she was a virgin; he could tell by the way she had kissed him, but was that the reason why he had lost control? He had to be honest, he usually didn't like girls like Emily. He preferred his women with more experience. Women like Emily were far too easy to hurt, and were far less predictable than women he expected to disappoint him.

Church turned from her, "We better go get ready for our shifts before anyone notices that we're gone." She didn't say a word; she merely followed him out of the closet as he turned off the light overhead. He had probably frightened her with his forcefulness, and he thought that it was better that she stayed away from him anyway. She headed back to the kitchen and nearly ran into Caboose. Both Church and Emily froze as Caboose looked between them.

Caboose pouted, "No one told me we were playing hide and seek."

Emily sighed in relief, "Don't worry Caboose, we'll play later." She said as she patted his arm.

Church felt anger spike through him. He wasn't sure that he liked the thought of Emily playing hide and seek with Caboose.

It had seemed like ages since the incident in the closet had passed, and Emily was still determined in avoiding Church. Anytime she thought about the kiss that they had shared, Emily could feel a flush creep up her neck. She didn't know how she was going to face him without her face resembling a radish. The only thing that she could do was keep busy with her duties. She was walking up the ramp to the top of the base when she heard Tucker and Caboose bickering over the sniper rifle.

"I never get the sniper rifle," Tucker said as he tried to wrestle the rifle out of the rookies grasp.

"I thought that you weren't going to complain about that anymore Tucker." Church said.

Emily looked over to see Church standing at the edge of the roof, looking out at the landscape. She was glad that her visor hid her blush.

Tucker looked over at his commander as he continued to hold onto the rifle, "Caboose doesn't even know how to use it anymore. Why does he always get the sniper rifle?"

"That's because I'm the best." Caboose said as he tried to get the rifle out of Tucker's hold.

"Be careful you guys," Emily said as she walked over to the struggling pair, "Someone might get hurt."

She hadn't even finished saying the last word when Tucker gave a violent tug and the weapon fired. Before she could even blink, Emily saw the bullet strike Church in the torso, and he fell in a crumpled heap. Emily felt her heart stop; she couldn't believe what had just happened. She took a step forward to see if Church was okay, but as blood pooled beneath him, she instead felt herself choke as she spun towards Tucker.

"You killed him!" Emily shouted as she went over to Tucker and started hitting him as hard as she could with her flying fists.

"No, Emily, it's okay," Tucker said as he let go of the rifle and tried to defend himself.

"It's not okay. You broke the one rule that he ever gave us," Emily said, he words cracking as her vision blurred with tears, "You killed him!"

"Goddammit Tucker, I told you to be careful with that!"

Emily stopped hitting Tucker as the voice registered in her mind. She slowly turned to where Church was, expecting to see him getting up. Instead she saw that his body was still lifeless on the ground, but standing next to it was a transparent soldier. The figure resembled a ghost. Emily did the only logical thing that her mind could come up with, she fainted.

Emily felt consciousness creep over her, and she noticed that there was a gentle light shining above her. Something warm pressed against her cheek, and she instinctively tilted her face towards it. She slowly opened her eyes and placed her hand over the one that was pressed over her cheek. She looked up to see Church leaning over her, concern and relief mixing in his eyes.

"Church?" Emily whispered and then sighed, "I had this horrible dream that Tucker had shot you. I thought you had died."

When her eyes regained focus she realized that Church wore neither his armor nor a shirt. It was then that she saw the bullet wound on the right side beneath his rib cage.

"Oh my God, you really did get shot!" She said as she sat up to touch the wound. Church flinched and she pulled her hand away. She looked up at him, "I saw your ghost standing beside the body, didn't I?"

Church sighed, "I suppose I should have told you before, but I didn't want to scare you." He gestured to his form, "This body isn't really mine."

"What?" Emily asked, feeling herself getting light headed.

"The truth is, I died a while ago. Caboose accidentally shot me with our Scorpion tank, and somehow I came back as a ghost."

"How is that possible?"

"I don't know," He said as he rubbed the back of his neck, "The only other person I knew who was capable of it was Tex."

There was something else about the situation that was bothering Emily, "If this isn't your body, than whose is it?"

"The commander of the Red team was able to make robot bodies for Tex and I to possess. Over time, the body started to change and look more like me. I think it has something to do with my ghost being inside of it."

Emily looked down at the bullet wound and noticed that it wasn't even bleeding. "Do you feel anything?"

Church grimaced, "Of course I feel, it hurts like hell getting shot one way or the other."

Emily looked at the wound in confusion, "When you got shot, I saw blood around your body. But now the wound is not bleeding."

"I don't have a heart beat, but I can still generate body heat."

Emily's mind shifted as she took in all of this new information. She had never heard of material being available to make robot soldiers. After a moment of contemplating, another thought came to her. An issue that she didn't want to have to face, so instead she watched her hand grip the sheets on the bed.

"You think that Tex will come back, don't you?" She didn't look at Church to see his reaction to the question, but his silence was answer enough. She let a sad smile show on her features, "Hard to compete with a ghost, I guess."

She looked up to see Church start to say something, but she waved her hand dismissively to stop him.

"It's alright," She said as she looked at him, "I'm not going to tell you that it's impossible for her to come back. You're living proof that she could."

At that moment Tucker came in to see if Emily was alright, and the conversation ended as Church got up and left the room. Tucker watched his commander leave before turning to his sister.

"You really like him don't you?"

Emily felt her face burn, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Tucker shook his head, "Don't try to deny it, I know these things."

Emily hung her head, "It doesn't matter, he's still in love with Tex."

Tucker snorted in disbelief, "Tex was a bitch. Everyone thought so and the only one who won't accept it is Church."

Emily looked at him in shock, "What?"

"Personally, I think she did some serious damage to him during their relationship. Church doesn't really talk about it much anymore, but apparently she would steal his money and whore herself out to other men."

Emily gave him a pointed look, "Are you sure your not judging her because she reminds you of mom."

Tucker ran a hand down his face, "Look, all I'm saying is that if you like him, don't treat him like shit the way Tex did, and don't become like mom."

Emily rolled her eyes, "Do you really think I would?"

Tucker smirked, "Not really, I just thought I should let you know that Tex wasn't all that good for him."

That night, or the closest thing that the planet had to evening hours, Emily tossed and turned in her sleep. Her heated dreams were causing her to wake to find her heart pounding and her body aching. This wasn't the first time this had happened. It happened more frequently ever since the kiss in the cleaning closet. She couldn't remember losing sleep over such dreams before arriving in Blood Gulch, but she knew that the reason for them were because of her commander. She looked at the wall next to her and hesitantly placed her fingers to it, knowing that Church probably lay fast asleep on the other side without the nuisance of pesky dreams. She pulled her hand away and drew her knees to her chest with her arms wrapped around them, wondering what to do.

If she listened closely, she could hear Church shift in his sleep as though he were lying right beside her. Emily got out of bed and started to pace in her room, hoping that it would work off her excess energy and make her tired. Her bare feet didn't make a sound on the cement floor. She still couldn't believe what her brother had told her about Tex or how much the woman had hurt Church. How could he still love someone who had been so cruel to him? She desperately wanted to go to him which made her hate that he made her feel this way and there was nothing she could do about it. She didn't know how long she paced in the dark, thinking about her feelings for Church. Emily realized how much his getting shot had torn her apart, and she didn't know what she would do if anything bad ever happened to him. Emily heard something click and was momentarily blinded by the lights. She looked over at the light switch to find Church standing by it, and noticed he still hadn't donned a shirt. Didn't the man understand that shirts were meant for the sole purpose of being worn?

Emily used a moment to compose herself before her mind finally started working, "What are you doing here?"

It seemed like a simple question, but for the life of him he couldn't remember why he had come. Church closed her door and leaned against it, "I couldn't sleep."

She looked up at him as though he hadn't been telling the truth, but he was being honest. He couldn't stop thinking about her. Whenever he tried to sleep, it was the feel of her skin and the taste of her mouth that he dreamed of. He couldn't believe that there was nothing but a thin layer of cement that kept him from touching her. It was driving him insane. He had actually heard her moving restlessly through her room. He knew that he shouldn't have come here, but being alone in his room with nothing but thoughts of her had beaten his good sense. He kept thinking about what she had said about competing with a ghost. Did she perhaps have feelings for him? The thought didn't make sense to him. She seemed to be the kind of girl who would be with a guy like Caboose. Church felt his temper spike at the thought of Emily with Caboose. He folded his arms over his chest and Emily was looking around the room nervously.

The silence grew awkwardly, but he didn't want to leave yet until he got a few answers. "Why do you feel that you have to compete with Tex?"

Emily was startled by the question, she didn't want to have to answer and voice something that she felt would only hurt her. She looked at the floor and crossed her arms over her chest. Her voice was so low that her own ears could barely hear what she said, "I know that it's wrong for me to feel this way what with you being my commander and the possibility of Tex coming back, but I can't help it. I don't know what's wrong with me," her vision slightly blurred as a sense of helplessness washed over her. She felt as though she had no control of herself or her emotions.

She heard him sigh heavily, "Nothing is wrong with you Emily." He had walked in front of her and tilted her chin up to look at him, "You just don't know what you're asking for."

She jerked her chin out of his grasp. She felt embarrassed at how he was treating her like she was stupid, "Of course I do."

He knew that she did, but he also knew that she might very well regret her decision. He thought of a reply that would possibly make her angry, "No you don't. You're just a child." She tilted her chin up, but he could see in her eyes that he had hurt her.

"I'm old enough to know I want someone like you. Is that so wrong?" Emily saw that Church seemed somewhat surprised by the question, but then a sad look crossed over his features as though he were battling some emotion.

"Of course not." He snapped as he turned from her, his fists clenching and unclenching as though he wanted to hit something. "Don't you understand? I'm all wrong for someone like you. You should be with someone like Caboose." The words were through his head and out of his mouth before he could stop them.

"Caboose?" Emily walked over to Church so that she could see the side of his face, "You want me to be with Caboose?"

She nearly stumbled back when he shot her a deadly glare. "No," He growled.

"I'm totally confused," After a moment, a thought crossed her mind, "You're jealous of him."

Church snorted, "Don't be ridiculous. Why would I be jealous of Caboose?"

Emily walked in front of him, "You know, Caboose and I are just friends. He's like the brother that I should have had instead of the one that I have now."

"Great. Glad to hear it." He said as he turned his face from her and crossed his arms over his chest as though to keep her confession out. Emily knew that Church would probably always have feelings for Tex, and with the possibility of her coming back, she couldn't hope to ever take her place. At that moment, she really did feel like a foolish child.

"The point is not about Caboose," Emily said, getting back Church's attention. Emily swallowed, not wanting to voice the unavoidable barrier, "It's about you still being in love with Tex."

Church was somewhat surprised by the answer, and yet at the same time he had expected it. Was that the reason why Emily had been avoiding him? He sighed heavily, "I did love her."

Emily felt something inside of herself go hollow. She looked at the floor so that he couldn't see her expression.

"But the war changed all of that. It changed the both of us. I used to love her and I still care for her, but I don't have those same feelings for her. Not anymore."

Emily looked up at him in surprise. If he wasn't in love with another woman, then was it possible that he could have feelings for her?

Church tilted his head in curiosity, "Is that why you've been avoiding me this whole time?"

Emily straightened, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Church smirked as he walked towards her and she stubbornly stood her ground.

"You're a horrible liar," Church said before he kissed her fiercely and wrapped her in his arms. Emily stiffened for a moment and then sighed as she relaxed into him. She wrapped her arms around him as he plundered her mouth. Church pushed her back and she felt something hit the back of her knees. It was her bed. With incredible clarity, Emily gasped and placed her hands on his shoulders to push him away, but his arms remained linked around her waist.

"Wait," Emily chocked out as she saw the heated look that Church gave her. She looked at the bed and then back at Church as her face reddened, "I've never done this before."

Church shrugged, "I figured that."

Emily swallowed, "What about you?"

Church grimaced, "I can't say that I've never done this before."

"No, I mean in this body." She said as she gestured to his form, "Have you ever done this as an android?"

Church felt heat scorch his cheeks. He knew that her concerns weren't necessary, but he certainly wasn't going to tell her how he knew, "No. But I promise you," he said as he drew her face to his, "Everything works as it should. I promise."

With those words said, Emily rose up on her toes to kiss Church, her arms wrapping around his neck. Church kissed her back as his whole body thrummed and he slowly settled them both upon her bed. The feel of her beneath him nearly made him lose control, but he strained to hold himself back. He slowly discarded her shirt and began to tug her pants off, smoothing his hands over her skin at any opportunity. He groaned as he saw her blush over her entire body. He was never going to be able to see her blush now without thinking of her naked. He quickly removed his sweats and returned to kissing her. He held himself propped over her and felt her hands running over his back, urging him closer. Church slowly lowered himself until their skin touched, and he felt his gut tighten. His body trembling with restraint, he slowly slid inside of her and quickly broke through her barrier. Emily cried out and her nails bit into his shoulders. Church held still for a moment and kissed her until she relaxed around him. Church began to move and he could hear Emily moan as she kissed his neck. It was then that he grabbed her hips and increased the rhythm. Emily panted beneath him as he drove into her and he brought them to a simmering climax before he collapsed in exhaustion and shifted his wait over so that he wasn't crushing her. Emily sighed and snuggled next to him. Church felt something in his chest shift, and he had a feeling that it had nothing to do with busted wires. Whatever this was between then, it didn't have anything to do with being her first lover. Somehow he knew that no matter what happened now, he would always want her, and he would never let anything happen to her.

Emily groggily woke up and noticed that she was alone in her room. The feel of the sheets on her skin caused her to blush as she thought of what had come to pass last night. She turned and hid her face in the pillow, not wanting to ever leave her room again. How could she face anyone when she knew that she would give away what she and her commander had done? Emily looked up at the ceiling as she clutched the blanket to her. Still clutching it to herself, she got up and hastily donned her clothes that had been left on the floor. Smoothing her hair back she left her room and heard voices coming from the kitchen. She hesitantly walked over to find Tucker and Church sitting at the table. Neither of them had seen her yet and Emily became afraid. Would Church think that they had made a mistake? Would he ignore her presence after what had happened?

"It seems the Reds have found a journalist and she wants to interview us about O'Malley." Church said. Emily tried to slip away but his eyes came up to meet hers and she froze. Ever so slowly, a smile warmed Church's features as though they shared a great secret. Emily blushed and Church's smile slackened as his eyes roamed over her body as though she weren't wearing anything.

"I can't believe they actually picked up a girl in our tank." Tucker complained, causing Church to slightly shake his head and focus back on the conversation.

"What are you bitchen' about? You have a girlfriend."

"Ya, but you don't know what it's like. Just the other day she was trying to get me to do a caddy shack."

"What's a caddy shack?" Emily asked.

Both men looked over at her. Tucker shifted in his chair awkwardly and Church looked as though he was trying to hide a smile. Emily glared at both of them, not budging until they told her.

"It's a shack on a golf course." Tucker blurted.

"I want to play golf!" Caboose said excitedly as he walked into the kitchen. Emily rolled her eyes and went down the hall to the public bathroom. Church got up to follow her.

"Church," Tucker said and Church turned to him, "Just so you know, if you hurt her I'll kill you."

Church gave him a blank look, "You know that's an empty threat right."

"Ya I know, but I'm sure that an exorcist can easily get the job done."

Caboose gave Tucker a confused look, "Are you saying that Church is fat?"

Church left as Tucker proceeded to explain to Caboose between exorcist and exercise. Church went to the bathrooms to see Emily wipe her face with a damp cloth at the sink in front of the large mirror. She looked up as he entered and placed the towel on the counter. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.

"Are you going to tell me what it means?"

Church walked over to her, "I'll tell you when you're older."

Emily gasped and placed her hands on her hips, "You're not going to shelter me like my brother are you?"

Church shrugged, "He did say that he would kill me if I ever hurt you."

Emily blushed and looked down at the floor, "Well, I guess that you don't have anything to worry about then."

Church wrapped her in his arms and Emily looked up at him in surprise. "Neither does he," he said with a grin, and then he kissed her.


	3. Chapter 3

Red vs. Blue

Retribution of Romance

_You've got mail_

_KG: Hey girl what's up?_

_ML: Repairing an ATV._

_KG: You are such a nerd._

_ML: I am not! What do you want?_

_KG: I wanted to ask you a favor. Could you spy on one of the Reds for us?_

_ML: I'm not a spy! You know I'm horrible at lying._

_KG: Don't worry. Unless you tell him that we hired you to spy on him, he won't figure it out._

_ML: Which Red is it?_

_KG: Dick Simmons._

_ML: The kiss ass? He'd kill me if he found out!_

_KG: I doubt it. All of these guys are a bunch of wussy assholes. _

_ML: Sounds like it. How's Emily?_

_KG: Sleeping with our Commander._

_ML: No way! I didn't think she had it in her. It's about time._

_KG: You owe me ten bucks._

_ML: Whatever. How am I supposed to spy on this guy anyway? All I'm good at is fixing vehicles and using the sniper rifle._

_KG: Use your charms to your advantage._

_ML: I'm not going to sleep with him._

_KG: I didn't mean that! Just talk to the guy._

_ML: How am I supposed to do that? Just walk up and say hello?_

_KG: Pretty much. So will you do it?_

_ML: Fine._

Simmons slipped off his helmet to rub his eyes and hopefully banish the headache that had started to throb behind them. He had probably busted a circuit from looking through the binoculars for too long. Knowing Sarge's skills in making defective cyborgs, Simmons wouldn't be surprised. He looked up to survey his surroundings, only to see an endless expanse of thick forest from his vantage point on a small cliff. He still couldn't believe that Sarge had sent him on this mission in the first place. It had all started when they received a distress signal not too far from Blood Gulch. At first, no one seemed overly concerned about it, but then Becky had mentioned the coordinates led to the base Command had sent her to when she first arrived. Sarge had immediately believed they should investigate the situation and ended up sending Simmons in the Warthog to go find the source of the signal. Simmons usually had Grif accompany him on missions, but things had changed. Simmons thought about how his team had found Grif in the caves with the journalist. They had been able to find him because of the tracking system that Simmons had put in Grif's armor. Donut had been outraged when he had heard this, having wasted time in looking for Grif during the time when Simmons had been exiled from Red base. Simmons had to admit that Grif seemed happier by Becky's presence. Grif even went so far as to shock everyone by ordering Becky a new camera since she was a photo journalist. Her last camera had broken not too long ago and Grif had mentioned buying her a new one, though no one believed he would actually put out the effort to get her new equipment. Simmons still didn't know where Grif got the money to buy the stuff.

Simmons sighed. Becky had been pestering them to let her get interviews from the Blues in Blood Gulch to find out the full story of the explosion that had blasted them all to the future. Grif had been completely against Becky's going to Blue base, and everyone else on Red team had advised her that it wasn't a good idea, but she still remained adamant. She had become even more insistent when they had told her about the A.I. that had threatened to destroy the universe. In all honesty, Simmons wouldn't be surprised if the journalist was right about the war being manipulated by someone within the government. There were many things about the war that didn't seem to make sense, like stationing a Red and Blue base in the middle of a boxed canyon.

With binoculars in one hand and helmet under his arm, Simmons turned away from the scenery and walked over to the Warthog. He tossed the binoculars on the passenger seat, and put his helmet back on as he slid into the vehicle. The distress signal had stopped showing on radar a few hours ago, but Simmons remembered the coordinates. Believing the mission had turned out to be nothing more than a waste of time; Simmons started the vehicle, and continued in the general direction of where the signal had been. The Warthog bounced and swayed over the rough terrain.

Simmons drove a few more miles before he noticed smoke coming from beneath the hood. The car sputtered and Simmons stopped the vehicle. He pulled off his helmet and sat it on the passenger seat as he walked around to the front of the car. He opened the hood and was nearly choked by the smoke that spilled out. Simmons coughed and waved the fumes away as he looked at the bundle of wires beneath the hood. He stared for a moment, as thought the vehicle would tell him what was wrong, but all he saw was a patch of burnt wires beside a box of batteries. Simmons ran a hand through his hair. Sarge was not going to be happy when he saw the condition of the vehicle. Simmons didn't even want to contemplate what Lopez would do. Then again, Lopez would probably just throw a bunch of Spanish curse words at him, which was something he would rather endure than a lecture from his Commander.

"Fuck," Simmons cursed as the vehicle sputtered pathetically. He walked over to kick one of the tires as though it would make the car work.

"Does your mother know that you talk like that?"

Simmons spun to his right to see a cobalt blue soldier standing within the foliage in the shade of the spindly pine trees. Simmons scrambled to aim his assault rifle at the soldier, but the Blue raised his hands defensively.

"Easy, I'm not here to fight." It was then that Simmons noticed the voice was feminine.

"Take off your helmet." He ordered.

The soldier sighed and walked over to him until she was standing directly in front of his weapon. She took off her helmet to reveal a mass of curly red hair, and a pair of blue eyes set into porcelain features. The face was completed with a splatter of freckles over her nose. Simmons felt his mouth go dry and forced himself to swallow. She looked back at the gun and then up at him.

"You gonna be good and put that gun down?" She said as she raised an eyebrow.

Simmons saw the sniper rifle strapped to her back and slightly lowered his weapon, but kept it trained on her.

"What do you want?" He asked.

She shrugged, "I wanted to see if I could hitch a ride."

Simmons stared at her in disbelief as she rose on her tip toes to look over his shoulder to peek at the front of the car. It was then that Simmons noticed how she barely reached his chin. He shifted to block her view and she sighed in frustration. As much as he wanted to tell the Blue to get lost, he couldn't seem to get himself to think straight. Perhaps the headache was affecting him more than he thought.

"Sorry, I don't give rides to strangers," He said off-handedly.

The soldier smiled, "Marianne Lennox, but I prefer just being called Mary."

Simmons stood straighter, "First Class Private Dick Simmons."

Mary grimaced, "What did you do to get a title like that? Write a letter or something?"

"Not exactly," Simmons said as his shoulders slumped, "I doubt I'll still have that title anyway when my Commander sees what I've done to the Warthog."

"Having car trouble?"

When she asked that, something sparked and snapped under the hood causing it to slam shut, and there was a scent of something burning. Simmons pinched the bridge of his nose, "It doesn't look like we're going anywhere now."

"Need some help?"

Simmons glared at her, "What could you possibly know about cars?"

"Quite a bit actually," Mary said saucily.

"I don't need help from a Blue."

"Don't be so stubborn, cursing the vehicle and kicking the tire won't get it to run again."

Mary walked over to the car and took off her sniper rifle to drop it on the ground beside Simmons. He couldn't believe how Mary seemed so unconcerned about him as though he didn't oppose any threat to her well being.

Mary lifted the hood and propped it open as she stuck her head under it. Simmons couldn't seem to take his eyes from her figure while she was preoccupied under the hood. She was a small woman, and very slim. Simmons couldn't understand how she even got into the army, let alone manage to lift a sniper rifle.

She straightened from underneath the hood and the look of excitement on her face caught him off guard.

"You have a solar powered vehicle," She said with an impish smile.

"Our commander thought that it would be more convenient."

"That's true, internal combustion engines are not that common these days." She didn't see Simmons give her a blank look as she rubbed her hands together eagerly, "I've always wanted to work on one of these. You even have a nickel-metal hydride battery pack rather than lead-acid. It's more maintenance, but it gives the vehicle more power."

Simmons couldn't help but feel frustrated. It was very rare that he encountered someone who seemed to know more than he did. His team members didn't even understand Einstein's Theory of Relativity. He wasn't used to the feeling of being confused, and it aggravated him even though he found it amusing how excited Mary seemed to be by the jumble of wires within the vehicle. He was shaken from his thoughts when she gasped and leaned back under the hood. "I found the problem."

Simmons leaned in as she pointed at a jumble of wires. "Your power trackers have been damaged."

"What does that mean?" Simmons snapped.

"Power trackers are what store solar energy in the battery and transfer energy to the motor controller. They protect the batteries from overcharging." She then proceeded to take off her chest armor and the armor covering her arms. Leaving the bottom part of her armor on and her gloves, she leaned over and proceeded to fix the vehicle. Her tank top stretched over her back and Simmons found himself annoyed that she hadn't taken off the bottom half of her armor when she suddenly came up to look at him.

"I have an idea."

"What's that?" Simmons said as he was dragged out of his thoughts. What was he doing fantasizing about a Blue? It didn't make any sense.

"How about I fix your car and you give me a ride. That way we'll both be getting what we want."

"You do know the Reds and the Blues are at war right?"

Mary waved a hand dismissively, "I've never taken this war seriously. I only joined because one of my friends did."

Simmons looked at her in disbelief, "Aren't you concerned I might kill you anyway?"

Mary leaned against the car as she ran her eyes over him. Simmons felt something inside him stir at her perusal, but he immediately tramped it down. "You don't seem to be the cold killer type. Besides, I figured if you were going to kill me, you would have already done it by now." Simmons looked down at the sniper rifle on the ground. He couldn't believe how trusting this woman was. How had she managed to survive in this war with that kind of attitude? Hesitantly, Simmons lowered his weapon and let it hang casually from his hand. Mary nodded, "I thought so." She turned and went back to work.

"I never met a girl that knew anything about cars."

"I never met a man that knew nothing about cars." Mary shot back.

"I'm more of a computer person." Simmons said smugly.

"You mean a nerd?" Mary said as she came from beneath the hood with a handful of wires.

"Being smart does not make me a nerd." Simmons ground out.

"Of course not." Her words might have convinced him if he didn't see the twitch of her lips as though she was trying to suppress a smile. Mary let the subject drop with a shrug of her shoulders as she proceeded with her work.

After a while, Mary called from under the hood, "Okay, see if it will start now." Simmons climbed into the driver's seat and turned the key, the car sputtered and started smoothly. Simmons looked up in surprise to see Mary had closed the hood and was leaning against the side of the car, grinning at him in triumph. The look was only marred by the dark streak over her cheek. Simmons chuckled.

"What?" She asked.

"You have something here," He said tapping his left cheek and getting out of the car.

She tried to wipe away the smudge but only managed to make it worse, "Did I get it?"

Simmons chuckled again as he picked up the rag she had been using and held her chin in his hand as he wiped the smudge away. Simmons realized how close they were and how she seemed to be holding her breath. She was looking up at him as he lowered the cloth from her face. He cleared his throat and stepped back to drop the cloth on the hood.

She crossed her arms casually, "What are you doing out here anyway?"

Simmons hesitated, not sure how much he could trust the Blue. Then again, his mission wasn't anything that could really give an advantage to the enemies. Simmons sighed with resolve, "I was sent to follow a signal somewhere in the middle of these woods."

Mary's eyebrows drew together, "How is that possible?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, not too far away, I found one of the communication satellites for the base here. It had been destroyed by someone, probably by a plasma weapon since it was partially melted and burned."

"That makes sense, I lost the signal a while ago and I've been traveling by memory as to its location."

"You're going the wrong way."

Simmons looked up at her, "What?"

Mary pointed to her left, "You need to be heading in that direction."

Simmons looked at her warily, "You know where the base is?"

Mary smiled as she grabbed her armor and hopped into the passenger seat. She patted the driver's seat, "I guess you need me to come with you after all."

Simmons eyes narrowed in suspicion, "How do I know you didn't destroy the satellites and you're just leading me somewhere to kill me? It also seems convenient that my vehicle should break down and you come along willing to fix it for a lift."

"Are you always this suspicious of people?"

"Only when they are my enemies."

"Fine then, let's believe that I'm just using you. Why would I wait for you to drive me there when I could just as easily have killed you by using my sniper rifle?"

Simmons thought about this. "Then I guess the only reason why you didn't was to find out what I was doing."

Mary had to give the man credit for being clever. "Since I already know why you're out here and I haven't killed you, then I guess we better be on our way."

He was thinking that leaving her behind would be a better option, but he knew that he needed her help. Simmons couldn't believe that he had disclosed so much to her. His mood turning dark, he picked up the sniper rifle and walked over to the car. He sat in the driver's seat and put the rifle in the back. He got back onto the rugged trail and continued driving to the source of the distress signal.

Mary couldn't believe how easy it was to get into the Red soldier's good graces. Everything was going smoothly, but she couldn't help but feel guilty about not telling him why she was there. She couldn't believe the only reason he was out in these woods was because of a distress signal. Mary couldn't help but feel curious as to why the signal was sent out. When her friend had asked her to spy on a certain Red named Dick Simmons, Mary had no idea the kiss ass would be so handsome. From what she knew, it sounded like Simmons was a real jerk that took every available opportunity to boss his other team mates even though he was only second in command. She knew the moment she had spied him through her sniper scope that he was going to be trouble for her even though she couldn't stand men like him. She knew she wasn't cut out to be a spy, and the fact that she had gotten this far without blurting her intent was a miracle. She was relieved her assumption that he would not hurt her had been correct. She looked over at him to find his green eyes glaring ahead of them as his dark blonde hair was mussed by the breeze. His skin was only slightly darker than her pale complexion. It was pure luck that his car had broken down and she knew enough about solar vehicles to fix it. If that hadn't happened, she would have been forced to spy on him at a distance, and with her easily bored mind, it would have been a problem.

Simmons headache had turned into a full on migraine. Simmons dreaded returning to Red base and having Sarge see if anything was wrong. With the luck that his commander had, Simmons would probably end up losing the use of his legs. Simmons turned to glance at his passenger. Her red hair was a tangled mess from the wind rushing over them. Simmons couldn't seem to stop wondering what it would be like to run his fingers through it. Not liking the way his thoughts were going, he scowled as he turned his attention back to the road.

"Is there food in here?" Marianne asked as she reached for the cooler at her feet.

Simmons didn't think he would have to eat anything Becky had packed him, but he didn't have the heart to tell her that since he was a cyborg, his appetite wasn't that of a regular person.

Mary was already digging in the cooler and pulling out the brownies and carton of milk. "Help yourself." Simmons muttered.

She stopped and reached in the cooler to pull out a can of motor oil and Simmons felt himself tense. "Why do you have a can of motor oil in here?"

"It keeps the food fresh," was the first thing that Simmons could think of. With everything that she already knew, there was no way he was going to tell her about his being a cyborg.

Mary looked at him strangely and shook her head as she put the can back. Instead she bit into one of the brownies and sighed blissfully and leaned her head back. Simmons felt his mouth water, but he wasn't sure if it was for the brownies or something else. He looked over to see her drinking from the carton and he stopped the car so fast that the contents splashed over Mary's face. She coughed and sputtered as she turned to glare at him. "What did you do that for?"

He pointed to the cooler and glared right back at her, "There are cups in there. Use them. I can't stand it when someone drinks out of the carton." He snapped.

Mary wiped the milk off of her face and glared at him as she reached into the cooler to pull out two Styrofoam cups. She quickly tossed them out of the car and saw Simmons shocked expression as she continued to drink out of the carton.

"I'm not one of your soldiers Dick, and you are not a Commanding Officer. I don't have to take orders, especially from a kiss ass."

Perhaps she was going too far, but Mary found she didn't care if she pissed off the Red. If it was one thing she hated, it was being told what to do.

His eyes narrowed, "How would you know if I was a kiss ass?"

When she hesitated to answer, Simmons grabbed her arm to turn her towards him.

"Where did you hear that?" The fire in his eyes was enough to only slightly dampen her temper.

Mary gave him a venomous look, "I heard about you from a friend on Myspace."

"Myspace?" Simmons questioned, and then his eyes widened, "Your friends with Kaikaina?"

Mary knew it was only a matter of time before she had revealed something, and she found that she didn't care that she had. She couldn't keep herself from smiling, "Is it true that you painted your armor Blue and tried to blow up your own base?"

Simmons groaned as he let go of her and leaned his head against the steering wheel. He couldn't believe what a fool he had been. What was he doing driving a Blue around? If Sarge found out, there was no way he could convince them that he wasn't a traitor. Making up his mind he looked at the road ahead.

"Get out." He said.

"What?" Mary asked, her smile gone. She didn't think just because she was friends with Kaikaina that it would be enough for him to ditch her.

"You heard me. Get out," He said glaring at her. When she made no effort to move, he got out of the car and walked over to the passenger side. Too late, Mary realized what he was doing.

"No!" She cried as she tried to crawl to the driver's side. She felt his arm circle around her waist as he dragged her out of the car as though she weighed nothing. She squirmed and kicked as he dropped her on the muddy ground and proceeded to walk back to the car. Mary took up a handful of mud and threw it at him, hitting him on his right shoulder. Simmons turned to see the splatter and looked back to glare at her.

"Do you have any idea how long this takes to clean?"

"I'm sure you get others to clean it for you, dickhead." Mary said.

"Does you mother know that you talk like that?" Simmons asked, throwing her words back at her.

"Kiss my ass!"

Simmons laughed bitterly. "Trust me," Simmons said as he walked over and leaned down to look at her, "your ass would be the last one that I would ever kiss."

The look she gave him probably would have killed him if he hadn't been built with android parts. "It certainly didn't look that way when I was bent under your hood." Mary retorted as she got up and Simmons had to take a step back.

"What? You're the one that was staring at me the whole time we were driving." Simmons said as he turned to go back to the car, hoping she didn't see the guilty blush that warmed his cheeks.

"Keep dreaming, tomato can."

Simmons stopped, "Don't call me that."

"What? Tomato can?"

"Shut up." Simmons growled as Mary came up to him.

"Whatever, make me," Mary said glaring daggers at the back of his head.

Simmons spun around, eyes flashing and causing Mary to step back. She knew he had a temper, but she didn't expect what happened next. Simmons dropped his helmet and grabbed the back of her head, meshing their lips together. Mary whimpered as she tried to step away, but Simmons only wrapped his other arm around her to the she was pressed as close as she could be with their armor between them. Mary dropped her helmet in surprise as she felt her body respond to the kiss. Heat flooded through her and she moaned into his mouth as she ran her hands through his hair. Mary stood on her toes, her lips bruising from his mouth. She suddenly hated the barrier of the armor between them and wished that she could feel his body beneath her fingers. Before she could get a chance at removing the armor, Simmons drew away. He held her at arms length before letting go and stepping away. He turned from her and ran a shaky hand through his hair, just as confused as she was as to what just happened. Simmons turned back to her as she was about to say something but he held up a hand to stop her.

"No, not a word. This," He said as he gestured between them, "never happened. Understood?"

Mary was annoyed at his commanding tone, and felt like giving him a snappy reply. The look on his face was the only thing that silenced her and she managed to nod in understanding, but she didn't try to hide the anger in her eyes.

"Fine, but you can't deny the fact that you need me." Mary said as she folded her arms and tried to hide the emotions roiling through her, "You have no idea where that base is, and it doesn't look like your sense of direction is very good."

Though he hated to admit it, she had a point. "Fuck," He growled as he went to the Warthog and got in. He turned to look at her "Fine, we'll keep going. I don't care if you hate me, but I need to find that base."

Mary shrugged, "I don't hate you," she walked over to the car. "I just don't like you very much."

He waited for her to get in and they went back onto the road.

"Can I say something?"

"No," Simmons snapped.

She glared at Simmons, "I bet the reason why you never get promoted is because of your temper. Seriously, is it a Dutch-Irish thing or something?"

"You have a temper too."

"That's because I'm a red head."

"I think it's because you're crazy."

Mary snorted, "I'm not the one who tried to bury my Commanding Officer while he was still alive."

Simmons lifted his chin defensively, "It was an honest mistake."

Mary rolled her eyes, "A mistake that you took full advantage of."

Simmons wanted to argue with her, but a wave of dizziness hit him as he tried to focus on the road. His vision started to darken and a searing pain burned behind his eyes. He tried to shake off the feeling, but it only made it worse as his ears started to buzz.

"Simmons, are you okay? You look awfully pale."

Simmons couldn't respond as he lost consciousness.

"Simmons!" Mary cried as he slumped at the wheel. Mary scooted over to push his leg off of the gas, but it was too heavy for her to move. She took the wheel and pressed down on the break. They were able to slow down slightly, but the car swerved sideways and what ended up stopping them was a tree that struck the drivers side. Mary was jarred by the impact. After a moment of recovering herself, she leaned over to look at Simmons. His features were deathly pale, and when she took his face in her hands, his skin was like cold steel. She quickly began to look him over to find any injuries and her hand came away sticky with blood as she checked his left side. Fear slid through her as she started to undo his armor with trembling fingers. When she got down to his clothing, she saw that there was a gash below his ribs. Blood was spreading over his shirt. Mary carefully lifted up the cloth and stopped when she saw something shine beneath the torn skin. Afraid that something had lodged itself inside his body, Mary took off her gloves to inspect the wound, only to gasp in surprise when she found that the piece of metal was a part of Simmons.

Simmons slowly opened his eyes. He was lying on his back, and he could feel the material of a blanket underneath him. Above him there was nothing but pine trees that tried to block out the infinite daylight. He tried to sit up when a cool hand was placed on his shoulder to gently keep him down.

"Easy Simmons, you don't want to over do it." Mary said as she came into focus above him. The first thing that he noticed was how she had uttered his last name, which he decided he preferred rather than having her say his first name as though it were a curse. The second thing that he noticed was that he had no shirt on. He gasped and sat up quickly, fighting off dizziness as he used the blanket to cover himself. He turned his head to glare at Mary's confused expression.

"Where are the rest of my clothes?"

Mary saw the blush that stained his cheeks and couldn't help but laugh, "I don't see why you're so shy, you have nothing to be ashamed of." She picked up his shirt and he held out a hand for it. The confession had passed her lips before she could stop it and their gazes locked.

A smile slowly curled Simmons lips and he cocked an arrogant eyebrow. "Really?"

A flush brightened Mary's cheeks, "It was just an observation," she said between clenched teeth. Simmons chuckled as he took the shirt from her. He quickly slid it back on and winced when he felt pain in his side. He lifted the shirt to find a patch stuck to him. He looked up at Mary, who glanced at him knowingly. "How long have you been a cyborg?"

"Not very long," Simmons mumbled, not looking at her.

"That must have been tough to go through, how did it happen?"

Simmons took a moment to answer, knowing she wouldn't like his response, "I volunteered for it."

Her mouth dropped, "You what?"

"We had lost our android. Our commander wanted to make another by using one of his soldiers. Since no one else had wanted to, I was picked from being second in command."

"You let them do this to you?" Mary asked, still not believing him, but when he didn't answer, she suddenly became angry. "That's really fuckin' stupid Dick."

Simmons looked at her in surprise, "I didn't have a choice."

"You could have said no!" Mary said, drawing closer to him in her ranting.

"If I had done that, then there was no way I would get promoted."

Mary growled in frustration, "You don't get it do you? Something could have gone wrong, you could have died, or your body might not have accepted the new equipment. You were too damn stubborn to say no and it could have cost you your life!"

"Well, it didn't." Simmons snapped.

Mary's eyes narrowed, "I'm surprised that you made it as far as you did. Your head probably felt like it was about to explode."

It was then that Simmons noticed that his headache was gone; he placed a hand on his forehead, as though afraid that the pain would suddenly return. He looked at Mary, "What did you do?"

Mary shrugged, "I told you I was a mechanic. Some of the wires in your head hadn't been melded correctly; they kept coming into contact with some of the tissues in your brain." She tapped her head above her right ear, "All of the circuits are where they would be in a normal cyborg, but since you still have some of your organs such as your brain and your heart, it was a bit tricky."

Simmons looked concerned, "Are you sure you knew what you were doing?"

"Absolutely. I should also tell you that whoever put you together was a complete idiot. There are some things I would have liked to adjust, but I don't have the proper supplies to fix a cyborg."

He laid back down on the ground with Mary still kneeling beside him. A moment of silence passed before Mary spoke, "I'm sorry about what I said in the car before you lost consciousness," but then her features hardened, "But don't you ever do something like that to me again. We crashed into a tree because you didn't tell me about your condition."

"What?" Simmons tried to get up, but once again Mary put a restraining hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, the car will be fine. I've been doing some work on it, and I can get it to run again."

He looked at her hand on his shoulder and she hastily drew it away, but he caught it in his hand. "Thank you," He said as he looked up at her.

Mary tried to ignore the heat that rushed through her from the touch of his hand, but memories of the kiss flashed through her mind before she could stop them. Simmons eyes darkened and she knew that he was thinking the same thing. With great reluctance, Mary pulled her hand away. She pulled herself away as she stood up and walked over to the car to continue her work. Simmons laid back down and ran a hand over his face. He had nearly jeopardized his future by siding with the Blue team when he had been banished from Red base. He couldn't imagine what would be in store for him if he had a relationship with a Blue. The attraction between them was undeniable and it was getting harder to just simply ignore it. There was something about the situation that both scared and confused him. He was beginning to no longer care that she was a Blue. He was so close to throwing all his other obligations out the window, just so he could stay lost with a girl who disliked him. Somehow, he felt as though in order for her to like him, he would have to have everyone else dislike him. He was actually contemplating if it was worth a risk.

Mary was exhausted by the time she walked over to Simmons. He had fallen asleep, and Mary had already been down by the stream that she had used to clean his shirt and rub the grime off of her body. In nothing but her shirt and pants, Mary laid down beside Simmons, being sure not to touch him so he wouldn't wake up. Mary couldn't help but remember another piece of information about Simmons that Kaikaina had told her. When Simmons had joined the Blue team, Church had pretended that he hadn't known him, and started telling Simmons how the maroon soldier was hated by his team mates. Church had been surprised in how his joke had actually seemed to hurt Simmons. Kaikaina had thought that the story was hilarious, but for some reason, Mary couldn't bring herself to see the humor in the insecurities of the Red soldier. She had actually felt bad for Simmons before she had even met him. To this very moment, she couldn't figure out why. She could no more explain it than she could explain the undeniable attraction between them. She had always hated people who only pretended to be nice in order to be liked. What made Simmons any different from the rest of the kiss ass people of the world?

She didn't know how it happened, but somehow Simmons was different. Mary shut her eyes and willed herself to sleep, not wanting to think of the truth that had been brewing inside of her since she met him. She liked Dick Simmons.

Mary slowly woke up. The first thing that she noticed was that it was incredibly hot. Almost unbearably warm. The next thing that she noticed was that the heat was coming from the form behind her. She was pressed up against Simmons, and his arm was thrown over her possessively. She felt a flush spread over her cheeks that had nothing to do with the shared body heat. Mary tried to shift, but the arm only tightened around her waist, drawing her more into him. Mary tried to swallow, but she found that her mouth was unusually dry. She turned her head to look at him over her shoulder. His face was so close to hers that if she moved ever so slightly, there lips could touch. He looked so peaceful when he slept. Not knowing what she was doing until it was too late; she pressed her lips to his. Simmons shifted and Mary quickly pulled away, embarrassment darkening her skin. She glanced up to see Simmons looking at her. She gasped as she started to pull away, but it was as though some barrier had been broken. Simmons drew her back to him and claimed her lips in a searing kiss. Mary couldn't have fought it even if she had wanted to. Heat speared through her, and she melted into him as they devoured each other. They both worked on discarding each others clothes. Simmons winced in pain as she pulled his shirt over his head. When nothing was between them, Mary placed both hands on his chest to press him onto his back. Simmons looked up at her as she straddled his hips. Hands sliding on his stomach, Mary slowly slid her hips down, taking him inside her. Simmons eyes widened in surprise at the feel of her. A groan was ripped from his throat as she began to move her hips. He gripped her waist tightly. He leaned up and ran his fingers through her hair as she rocked against him. His hands ran greedily over her body. Mary groaned at the contact and increased the tempo. His arms encircled her as he matched her pace, and they were soon taken by a swift climax, her nails biting into his arms as she came and a guttural cry leaving his throat. They laid against one another in exhaustion as they caught their breath.

Mary was lying on top of Simmons when she noticed something, "You don't sweat." Simmons looked down at the top of her head, and chuckled at her observation. She looked up at him, "Why is that?"

"Just something my Commander believed I didn't need."

Mary glared, "Can I kill your Commander?

"What?" Simmons looked down at her in surprise, but she hid her face in his shoulder.

"He shouldn't have done this to you." Mary whispered.

Simmons felt something stir within him. He couldn't figure out why she seemed to care so much what he had suffered. He had probably brought it on himself anyway.

Mary couldn't bear not telling him that she had originally been sent out to spy on him, it seemed so unimportant now. She didn't expect this to happen or that her feelings would get so involved. She knew she needed to tell him. A beep sounded and Mary lifted her head to hear it coming from the car. Simmons also started getting up.

"That must be Sarge." Simmons said as he quickly donned his pants and went over to the vehicle. Simmons leaned over the driver's seat and pressed a few buttons on the counsel.

"Simmons?" Sarge's gruff voice sounded on the vehicles radio.

"Yes sir."

"Have you found the distress signal?"

"Negative, someone destroyed the communication satellites so I have been tracking the signal from the coordinates." Mary came over wrapped in the blanket, her stomach sinking at the prospect of Simmons returning to Blood Gulch.

"Alright then." Sarge replied, "Stay sharp, the Blues seem to have sent a spy to find out what we're tracking." Mary froze as she saw Simmons stiffen. He turned to her slowly and his eyes narrowed in cold suspicion that caused Mary to shiver.

"Understood sir."

They stood in silence for a moment until Simmons approached her, the same stern features on his face. He stood in front of her, "Get dressed, we're leaving." He walked around her.

"Simmons wait. Let me explain." Mary said as she turned to follow him. He spun towards her, his eyes seething.

"I don't want to hear it," He said between clenched teeth. He turned back to pick up his shirt and armor. "I'm leaving, with or without you."

As they drove, Mary didn't dare utter a word. Simmons was mad as hell and she couldn't believe that he had taken her with him. Of course, keeping silent was never her strongest talent.

"I meant to tell you," Mary blurted.

Simmons kept driving and there was a tick in his jaw.

"I didn't think that it would go this far." Mary said more to herself than to him.

After a while they came to the base, but there were no guards posted outside. Mary looked around and noticed there were no people patrolling the base. It almost seemed abandoned.

Simmons got out of the car and raised his assault rifle. Mary got out and brought her sniper rifle. Simmons no longer seemed to be concerned with her. In fact, he was thinking about the mess he was currently in. He had slept with a Blue spy and didn't want to think of what Sarge would do when he found out. The worst part was he didn't want it to be this way. He was reluctant to complete this mission and go back to Blood Gulch. It was strange, but he actually wanted to remain lost in this forest with a Blue spy that he barely knew. He doubted she felt the same way. They both entered the base only to find the building empty. There were several floors connected by metal stairways. They walked down to the bottom floor where there was a dim portal and a computer counsel next to it. Mary looked to the side and was shocked to find a body lying on the floor surrounded by blood. Simmons followed her gaze and cautiously walked over to the body. The person had been dead a while and Simmons walked back over to the counsel as Mary looked over to the body.

"Where is everyone? There's supposed to be people here." Mary said nervously and Simmons looked over at her.

"It's alright, we'll find out what happened."

Simmons tapped a few keys and then stiffened.

"What is it?" Mary said looking around.

"We've got to get out of here." He said as he went to the stairs. There was a wave of heat and a flash of light as the stairway melted away and collapsed in front of Simmons. He backed away, raising his weapon above them, looking for whoever had used a plasma pistol on the stairway, blocking their escape. There was a flash of movement, and Simmons ran over to the teleporter. He kneeled beside it to work on the panel. Mary turned to see a gush of fire come towards them, the flames dissipated enough that Mary saw someone in EVA armor wielding a flamethrower at them from the molted metal and darkened alcove beneath the destroyed stairway. Mary felt something wrap around her waist as the attacker prepared to fire and she was pulled back and through the teleporter. Mary felt the breath rush out of her lungs as she collapsed on top of Simmons and found herself looking up at clear blue skies.

"What happened?" Mary asked, still slightly dazed.

"I teleported us to Blood Gulch," Simmons said as he moved over so that they were lying side by side on top of the base.

Mary came up and looked at the teleporter, "Won't it come through?" She asked in a panic.

Simmons didn't bother leaning up and instead took off his helmet, "He won't be able to come through."

Mary took off her helmet and looked down at him, "How is that?"

"I can manipulate teleporters." He said simply, not looking at her.

Mary leaned back and stared blankly at the teleporter, "You saved me." She said and Simmons looked at her, "I thought you hated me."

"I don't hate you," Simmons said running a hand over his face, "I just don't like you very much."

Mary looked at him and smiled, causing his gut to turn. She leaned forward and kissed him with everything she had and he found himself returning the kiss with equal fervor.

"Simmons, is that you?" Grif asked

Simmons looked up to see Grif, Becky and Sarge standing on the base looking at him as he had made out with a Blue. Simmons groaned as he got up with Mary.

"Simmons, what in the sam hell do you think your doin'?" Sarge asked roughly.

Grif did a double take when he saw the Blue with Simmons, "Mary, what are you doing here?"

"Hey Grif," Mary said, "Kaikaina kind of asked me to come out here."

"Simmons what is the meaning of this? If she's a Blue, then she needs to be our prisoner." Sarge asked persistently.

Simmons looked at Mary and then back at Sarge, "No sir."

"What?" Sarge asked flabbergasted.

"I said no sir. She will not be our prisoner." Simmons crossed his arms, refusing to look at Mary.

"Simmons, I always knew that we couldn't trust you after you painted your armor Blue. This is absolutely unacceptable. You're a traitor!"

Simmons had braced himself for the assault, but he didn't expect Mary to step in front of him, "Actually, he's not a traitor."

"What?" Sarge snapped.

Mary took out her rag and started whipping furiously at the armor on her forearm. After a moment, she held it up for them to see. There was red paint beneath the blue coat.

Sarge looked at Simmons, "Simmons, it looks like we have a new recruit."

Simmons barely heard what his commander said as Mary turned and smiled at him.

Later that day, Mary came into Simmons room. He turned to her and placed his hands on his hips.

"Start talking," Simmons ordered.

Mary smiled as she leaned back against the door. She didn't know when she started liking it when he told her what to do, "Budget cuts."

"Budget cuts?"

Mary shrugged, "I needed a set of blue armor, and all they had left was a red suite they had confiscated some time ago. Seemed logical to just paint it blue and no one would know the difference."

Simmons smiled as he walked over to her, "What were you and Becky talking about?"

Mary suddenly became serious, "We think that the person who attacked us might be looking for her." Simmons was afraid of that. Becky had interviewed the Blues while he was away, and she seemed somewhat nervous when she had heard about the Freelancer Project from Church. "She knows someone who might be able to protect her. Someone who will believe what she has to say. She'll be leaving Blood Gulch."

"Grif is going to be pissed." Simmons mentioned.

Mary took a deep breath, "I'm going with her."

Simmons felt his mood darken, "Like hell you are."

"Simmons, I was at that base too, whoever attacked us might come looking for me."

"You'd be safe here."

"I also know someone from the Freelancer Project. I want to be able to help Becky uncover whatever it is that's going on."

Simmons felt his argument slipping, "I don't want you to go."

"I know." Marianne reached out and held his face in her hands so that he would look at her, "I promise that I'll be alright. We're leaving in a few weeks, and before I go I want to fix all the kinks in your system to make sure nothing happens to you either."

Simmons placed his hands over hers, "You better not fuckin' die on me."

"I won't, and I'm going to make sure that you don't either. I'll make sure that everything functions as it should."

Simmons smirked and he quirked an eyebrow, "Everything?"

Mary pinched his shoulder, "Yes, everything." She said as she rose up to kiss him.

_You've got mail_

_KG: So did you sleep with him?_

_ML: That's none of your business!_

_KG: Chill out. What happened?_

_ML: I'm switching sides._

_KG: Damn, he must have been a good lay._

_ML: You didn't sleep with him?_

_KG: Nope, nerd's aren't my type._

_ML: I didn't think you had a type._

_KG: Shut up you whore!_

_ML: Whatever slut._


	4. Chapter 4

This story takes place some time after the events of Reconstruction.

Happy Holidays!

* * *

Red vs. Blue

Retribution of Romance

Washington was regretting his decision about coming to the Sidewinder outpost. A friend had asked him to help the troops on the ice planet and Washington had thought that it would be a good place to lie low for a while after the events that led to the downfall of the Director. He was still surprised that Grif's girlfriend had been the one disclosing information to the Subcommittee Chairman. If it hadn't been for her, the Chairman might never have suspected the misdeeds of the Director. Church had managed to survive the EMP blast and both Rebecca and Marianne had returned to Grif and Simmons at their new base. Washington was brought back to his surroundings as the Warthog lumbered over a patch of snow. Though the request to help the soldiers had seemed reasonable at the time, Washington didn't expect it to be so damn cold. He continued to check the coordinates for the base when he heard gunfire from his left.

Slowing the Warthog to a stop, Washington grabbed his assault rifle and headed towards the commotion. Scaling a pile of snow, he saw two large creatures that wore silver armor. Both were armed with fuel rod guns and large shields; spikes protruded from their backs. Covenant Hunters. Washington crouched behind a boulder and saw the two Hunters cornering a Red soldier at the base of a cliff. A small alcove within the rock was the only thing keeping the solder protected as he fired at the two aliens. Taking advantage of the creatures exposed backs; Washington rushed out and fired at one creature while throwing a grenade at the other, bringing their attention away from the soldier. Washington's shots struck the first Hunter and caused the slimy eels of innards to gush out as the creature fell. The second one turned to Washington only to be struck by the other soldier, easily killing it. With weapon still held up, Washington cautiously approached the Red as he came out of the alcove.

"Dammit," The woman muttered as she looked down at the Hunter. Her head turned to look at Washington, "Who the hell are you?"

"Agent Washington. A friend told me that you guys needed some help out here," Washington said, ignoring the rudeness of the soldier even though he had just saved her life.

"We have everything under control out here."

The Hunter next to her jerked on the ground and Washington fired a few shots at it until it laid still. The Red stepped away from the creature cautiously.

Washington turned his attention back to her, "Ya, I can see that everything is going well. Where is the rest of your team?"

The soldier sighed in frustration as she walked passed him and he proceeded to follow her as she spoke, "I came out here alone. The rest of my team left a few days ago to see if they could make contact. The Covenant Loyalists have been taking advantage of our weakened defenses ever since the scandal about the Director in the UNSC was made public. All of our communication satellites in the vicinity have been destroyed. Do you have a vehicle? The Hunters destroyed my transport."

Washington confirmed that he did and proceeded to lead her to the Warthog. He wondered how much the soldier knew about the scandal concerning the Director. At this point, he knew that it wasn't necessary to tell her how he was involved in the Director's downfall.

"You have a name?" Washington asked as they reached the vehicle.

"Katherine Michaels." She answered, sliding into the vehicle.

"Is your base far from here?"

"Not really, just keep heading southwest."

Kate couldn't help but feel frustrated at the sense of relief that she felt for having company. She would never admit it to anyone but she hated being alone out here, especially when she couldn't see her family back on Earth for the holidays. Kate sighed and looked around at the white landscape as they drove. At least the scenery was appropriate for the time of year. She knew it had been stupid to have come out here alone, but she hadn't heard from her two comrades in a while and she had thought to go and see if she could get a signal out to them. The two Hunters had ambushed her, and that was when Washington had shown up. She would have to be a hermit not to know about Agent Washington's background. Kate heard how he had been one of the first to enter into the Freelancer Project and how he was implanted with an A.I. that had decided to commit suicide within his head. She couldn't imagine what the other soldiers had gone through, but apparently it had left a huge crack in the fabric of time that the government was trying to cover up. Personally, Kate thought the Director had gotten exactly what he deserved. No matter what the circumstances, no one should take such drastic measures with human life in order to win.

They reached the base and when the door slid shut behind them, Kate proceeded to take off her helmet. Washington couldn't help but stare at the way her wavy blonde hair fell to her shoulders. She turned to him and he saw how her eyes were a vibrant green.

Washington cleared his throat, "How long have you been stationed at this base?"

Kate shrugged, "A few weeks." She turned to walk down the hall leading deeper into the base. Washington followed.

"Were the satellites already destroyed when you arrived at this outpost?"

"Unfortunately yes, and being one of the few Covenant specialists, I was lucky enough to get stationed out here."

Washington would have to be deaf to not hear the hint of sarcasm in her voice. "I take it that you don't like being here."

"Let's just say that I would rather learn more about the Covenant than fight them."

"You're not just a bit angry that they tried to kill all of humanity?" Washington asked as they walked into the kitchen.

"Of course I'm angry, but when you think about it, they were only fighting for something that they believe in. It's understandable that they were acting just as we would if we believed in something strongly enough."

Washington felt a corner of his mouth tilt up. Though her argument was logical, he doubted people would be happy with the comparison.

"You know, you don't need to keep your helmet on." Kate said as she tilted her head, "It's kind of weird talking to my reflection in your visor, and I promise I won't laugh if you're hideous looking." She smiled in reassurance of her claim.

With hesitation, Washington brought his hands up to take off his helmet. He slipped it off and ran a hand through his dark brown hair. He looked up to see the Kate had lost her smile and was studying him. She was taken aback at how he had tan skin and sharp features but his eyes were a gentle hazel green. Not wanting to make him more nervous than he seemed to be now, Kate willed herself to smile casually.

"I'll show you to your room." Kate offered as she once again turned to head down another hallway.

A few hours later, Washington found himself sitting in his casual clothes at the middle island in the kitchen while Kate rummaged through the fridge. He shifted uncomfortably in the chair, not used to having his armor off.

"Who were the two men that left?" Washington asked, trying to occupy himself with something other than watching Kate search the fridge. He had noticed that she wasn't a small woman. If she tilted her head up she could easily reach his lips with hers. Washington shook his head, somewhat confused the image had even entered his mind.

"Their last names are Sullivan and Jones. Since I haven't heard from them in a while, I thought I could go out and try to get a signal, but the Hunters were waiting for me."

Washington already knew it was a possibility that the two men were dead, and if that were so, then it was a good thing he had come along. Kate grabbed a jug of something from the fridge and got two mugs out to serve the liquid. After pouring both of them a drink she put the jug back and heated the two mugs.

"What information about the Covenant do you specialize in?"

Kate put a steaming cup in front of him, "Covenant history mostly, as well as background information about each species, and religious beliefs. My favorites are the Engineers, they are the cutest creatures." Kate sat down with her cup and took sip of the warm beverage with a sigh of delight.

Washington had an image of a pink blob floating with tentacles protruding out of its body that were eager to take things apart as well as put things back together. The word "cute" was not something that he would use to compare to a Covenant Engineer.

"What exactly do you find cute about them?" Washington asked in disbelief.

"They're pink," Kate said as though it were obvious, "They were made by the Forerunners for the sole purpose of handling their technology. To communicate with each other they use clicks and whistles, which is just adorable."

Washington knew that he was giving her a look that said he thought she was crazy, but he did have to keep himself from chuckling when she mentioned that she thought the hideous aliens were cute because they were pink.

Washington could smell the spice that was coming from his cup. "What is this?"

"It's apple cider."

Washington couldn't even remember the last time that he had had apple cider.

"Don't worry, it's not poisoned," Kate said when he continued to study it. She held up her cup, "I poured them both from the same jug remember."

Ignoring her comment, Washington took a sip of his drink, letting the warm spicy beverage slide down his throat. "Aren't you uncomfortable being out here alone by yourself? What if a pair of Hunters were to attack the base?"

"You know what's funny is that Hunters didn't even believe in the Journey preached by the Prophets, they only fought because the Elites had helped them to harness their strength. Of course, all of that has changed now that the Elites have separated from the Covenant. Besides I don't mind being alone. I never did get along well with others." She shrugged, "Probably why I'm in an extra terrestrial profession."

Washington slightly smiled at the comment. Her eyes stayed on him for a moment before she smiled and got up. She took her apple cider with her into her room.

When Kate got up the next morning, she started searching for Washington. She wanted to know if he would go with her to try and set up communications. It wasn't important who they got a hold of at this point; Kate needed to contact someone to report about the status of Sidewinder. Kate called out to Washington and she heard water running. When she walked into the public bathroom she froze. Washington was taking a shower and was in the process of rinsing out his hair. Kate had never gotten used to showering with other people, even when it was forced on them during training. She always made an effort to be the only one in the public bathroom, especially after a certain incident had caused her to be uncomfortable with the idea.

"What is it?" Washington asked, and Kate snapped out of her thoughts by the question. He was looking over his shoulder at her, waiting for her to tell him why she had called. The water slid over his body and Kate forced her eyes to stay up. He seemed completely at ease and unaware of her thoughts. She felt her cheeks burn and was unable to remember what she was going to ask him. Instead, she ducked out of the bathroom and fled to the kitchen. She leaned against the counter and placed her hands on her cheeks in an effort to cool them. She shook her head and tried to block out the image of his taut body. He would surely think her insane judging from her bizarre behavior towards him. Why did the man have to look so good when he wore nothing? It wasn't as if she had never seen a naked man before. She had been determined to lose her virginity before entering the war, and had lost it to a man that she was friends with during training. Of course it was dark when they had gotten around to it, and she might have been a bit drunk from celebrating their graduation.

"Are you alright?"

Kate jumped as she looked up to see Washington standing in the kitchen beside her. He wore nothing but a towel around his hips.

"Of course I'm fine, why wouldn't I be fine? Shouldn't you put some clothes on?" She bit her tongue to keep from saying anything else.

Washington saw the blush on her cheeks and a laugh escaped him before he could stop it. He placed a hand on the counter next to her and leaned close, "Do I make you nervous Katherine?"

Kate felt a shiver run threw her as he said her name and she was hoping that he hadn't noticed. Unfortunately for her, Washington didn't miss anything. The action affected him more than he would have liked as did the fact that she seemed to be attracted to him. He didn't know why it should matter that she was. She was certainly a strange woman. Washington knew that in his profession he shouldn't allow himself to get close to anyone, but he couldn't help but feel drawn to her. He was drawn to this strange person who would rather be in the company of aliens than her own kind. Drawn to how she would stare even though he could tell that her mind was turning. He slowly drew away from her, knowing that he had been betrayed one too many times to allow anyone close to him.

They were both startled when an alarm blared throughout the base.

"Shit!" Kate dashed around him to her room, and he quickly went to his own room to don his armor. A moment later, Washington met up with Kate.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Unggoy," at Washington's silence, Kate revised, "Grunts, and a pair of Hunters."

They left the base and Kate got into the Warthog to drive as Washington slid up to get to the machine gun on the vehicle. They sped away from the base, snow kicking up behind them as they tore across the tundra. Kate stopped abruptly when she saw the two Hunters and the horde of Grunts. The sensors that surrounded the base had been triggered by their presence.

"Try to get as close as you can and avoid their fire." Washington told her as he aimed the machine gun. Kate gunned the vehicle and started circling around the group as Washington opened fire on them. Most of the Unggoy were taken care of easily, but the Hunters were more difficult to kill with their heavy shielding. One of the Hunters fired at them and missed, but the other charged them and hit the side of the Warthog, sending both soldiers to the ground and nearly tipping the vehicle over. Kate landed in the snow and turned over to see Washington getting up and firing at the Hunter that was approaching him. The alien swung the gun to strike him, but Washington ducked in time to avoid it. Kate scrambled off of the ground and grabbed her weapon as the second Hunter approached her. She ran to put some distance between herself and the alien. A wave if heat beside her signaled that the Hunter had fired the fuel rod gun and had barely missed her. She turned back to fire at her assailant and noticed that Washington had slid beneath the Hunter attacking him and blasted at the exposed flesh in the creatures back. Kate started firing at her Hunter, but it already had its shield up as it continued to approach her. Kate tried to hastily step back as she continued to fire but there was a slight dip in the ground and she lost her footing. She fell back as the Hunter raised its shield to crush her. She rolled out of the way as the shield came down and felt the earth give beneath her with a resounding crack.

She and the Hunter were on ice. The Hunter didn't seem to notice as it raised its shield again to strike her. She turned her head to see Washington running towards them.

"Wash stay back!" Kate cried as the ice dipped beneath them. The Hunter stumbled at the shift and tried to regain its balance. Kate stood shakily to make a run for it and the Hunter tried to pursue her.

"Kate!" She heard Washington call, but the ice gave way beneath her.

Washington saw as both she and the Hunter disappeared beneath the ice. It was a rare occasion when Washington felt fear, and this was one of them. With mind speeding ahead of action, Washington jumped into the Warthog and took off in the direction that the water flowed.

Kate couldn't tell which direction was up as she spun in the water. She felt something strike her shoulder and she could vaguely see the struggling Hunter floating beside her. She lost sight of it as she continued to be carried by the current. She knew she was safe from the elements since her armor had temperature controlled gel inside of it. The oxygen in the suit should last until she could find a way to reach the surface. After a moment of drifting, she knew that something was wrong. She checked her suit and saw on her visor that the temperature in her armor was dropping. It had just dropped below thirty-four degrees and Kate could feel an edge of panic hit her. She tried to twist and find the way up to the surface, but not even the light in her helmet could penetrate the dark water. She blindly reached around her, her movement growing sluggish. She saw ice crust around her visor and she felt her body tire and grow stiff. She felt so tired. Her eyes started to close as she ceased struggling. In her foggy state of consciousness, she barely noticed the silver armored hand that broke through the ice and grabbed her wrist tightly. She felt herself being pulled up.

Washington heaved Kate out of the water and laid her down on solid ground. He realized that she was shivering violently and hastily took off her helmet. He felt himself panic when he saw the blue tinge of her skin. She looked up at him as she continued to shiver.

"Arm-mor c-cold," she stuttered around her chattering teeth. Washington checked the armor. It was dropping below twenty-two degrees. Without a second thought, Washington stripped her of the armor and carried her to the Warthog. He placed her on the passenger seat, wrapping a thermal blanket around her that had been stored in the vehicle. He jumped into the driver's seat and gunned it back to the base. When he carried her inside, he noticed she wasn't shaking anymore and was looking around groggily. Panic seized him when he realized that she was entering the third stage of Hypothermia. Why wasn't she getting warmer? Washington sat her down for a moment as he stripped off his armor to his underclothes. She limply moved her arm to push the blanket off and moaned as though the action had hurt her. Blanket forgotten, Washington scooped her up and hissed as her cold skin stung him. He carried her to the showers and turned one of them on until it was around body temperature. At the sound of the running water, Kate's eyes snapped open.

"No!" She weakly fought against him to get free and Washington sat with her still clutched to him so that they were both beneath the water. "Don't touch me!" Her breathing grew shallow as her eyes darted around her as though she didn't know where she was. The last thing that he needed was her heart rate to go up in her state, it would be possible for the cold blood to flow to the heart and kill her. Washington tried to suppress his dread as he grabbed her face to look at him.

"Kate, its David. You need to calm down." She tried to look away from him but he held firm, "You're safe, understand? You have got to calm down." He couldn't keep the note of desperation out of his voice. Finally something seemed to clear in her gaze as she looked at him.

"David?" Kate mumbled, and her face crumpled as she buried her face in his shoulder and clung to him, "Please don't leave me," She said on a chocked sob. "I don't want to be alone again."

Washington held her as the water cascaded over them and soaked their clothes. Her sobs eased a bit and she started to shiver against him as her body tried to get warm.

"Kate," Washington whispered as he gripped her tighter and rested his cheek on her drenched hair, "I don't want to be alone either."

Washington got her out of her wet clothes as she remained asleep. He tried not to notice how soft her skin was as he dried her body or how much her pale skin contrasted so much with his dark hands. Her body was no longer cold, but flushed with heat as she slept, causing a burn scar under her right forearm to stand out. He shirked out of his clothing for a pair of dry pants, water from his damp hair slithered down his back. He gently put Kate in bed with nothing but a few blankets wrapped tightly around her. She sighed and snuggled into the blankets as he secured them around her shoulders. When he drew his hands away to leave, Kate untangled her hand from the blankets and reached for Washington's wrist, limply holding it in her hand.

"Don't go." She mumbled in her sleep and she let her hand fall away. Washington clenched his fists. He knew he shouldn't stay. There was no reason for him to be there. A small part of him argued that if he did stay he could provide warmth, but the other side of him knew the blankets would be enough. For a moment he stood there, fighting with himself. Kate groaned and rolled over. Washington ran a hand over his face as he sat on the edge of the bed and slid beneath the blankets. Kate immediately wiggled closer to him. He stiffened as he felt her skin press against his. Washington forced himself to relax as he settled in beside her. He couldn't remember the last time he had actually held someone. He had always made an effort to keep a distance from people, even when sexually involved with someone. Before he fell asleep, he kept telling himself what a fool he was. He always made the mistake of trusting people, and this was probably going to be the biggest mistake of them all.

When Kate pulled herself out of a strange dream, she was bundled in something warm and soft against her skin. Something behind her was warming her back and she drew closer to absorb the heat of it. Brow furrowed in confusion, she opened her eyes, noticing she had a slight headache and something firm was circled around her waist. Kate turned over and her muscles screamed in protest. She saw Washington lying beside her and she gasped in surprise. The sound caused his eyes to snap open, and when he saw Kate looking at him he scooted away from her. Kate sat up and drew the blanket up to cover her chest, not able to remember how she ended up in bed with Washington.

"Did we?" Kate started to ask and she felt heat scorch her cheeks.

Washington propped himself up on one hand and turned to look at her embarrassed expression. When he realized what she was asking, he smiled. Kate could feel her cheeks grow even hotter. Washington shook his head negatively to answer her question of whether they had had sex last night.

"What happened?" Kate asked, trying to distract herself from how wonderful he looked when he smiled and how they were both nearly naked in the same bed.

Washington became serious, "You fell beneath the ice when we were fighting the Hunters. Your suit malfunctioned and the gel was dropping your body temperature."

It was coming back to her now, "I think the Hunter struck me under water. Maybe that's why my suit malfunctioned."

There was an awkward silence between them and Washington couldn't help but notice the slope of her bare shoulders or the sight of her tousled hair. He tore his gaze away and clenched his teeth. He wanted things that he knew he couldn't have. A normal life and a normal relationship were not possible for a Freelancer like him. With renewed determination, Washington got out of bed and ran a hand through his mussed hair. Kate couldn't help but notice that he did this when he was agitated or nervous.

"I'm going to make something to eat." He said as he left the room. Kate let out a pent up breath and fell back onto the pillow to look up at the ceiling. The image of him stayed in her mind as though it were burned there. The way his body looked, the way he smiled. Kate screwed her eyes shut as though the image would go away. She knew it was foolish to think about him in this way. A Freelancer could never form a commitment with anyone. To block the thought from her mind, Kate got up to get dressed.

She went into the kitchen a few minutes later to find Washington heating two bowels of noodles. He hadn't bothered with a shirt. He turned to see her enter and walk over to see what was cooking.

"Top ramen," Kate mentioned with satisfaction, "gourmet meal of America."

Washington smiled; glad the tension between them was easing. "It would seem so," He said as he walked to the middle island to get utensils. It was then that Kate saw the scars on him.

"Holy cow." Kate said as she saw the lines and cuts on his back. Washington tensed as she walked over to study him, "Are all these from your missions?"

"Most of them." Washington said as he tried to turn back around.

"What about this one?" Kate pressed her fingers to a bullet wound below his right shoulder blade, preventing him from turning. She could tell that it was a recent scar as well as the one that went through his left shoulder.

For a moment, Kate didn't think that he would answer. "Someone shot me in the back," his words were clipped as though he was still angry.

"That was a shitty thing to do." Kate said, and Washington couldn't prevent another smile to show.

"I thought so too," He turned to her and leaned against the counter as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I have scars too," Kate blurted, causing Washington to cock an eyebrow. She flipped her arm over to expose the burned skin under her forearm near the elbow.

"How did you do that?" Washington asked, curious from the first time he saw it when he was drying her off.

"One Christmas, my parents got me a chemistry set I could use in the garage. I spilled some acid, and I didn't notice until my skin started itching." She gasped as she remembered something, "I almost forgot!"

She went to dig through the fridge until she pulled something out of the back. It looked like orange goop in a zip lock bag.

"What is that?"

"I had my mom send over some pumpkin pie. I guess it didn't do so well going through slip space." She plopped the bag down and carefully opened it. Using her finger, she scooped a bit out to taste it. "It's still good, try it." Kate scooped some more out with her finger and turned to hold out her offering to him. Without a thought, Washington grabbed her hand to steady it as he sucked the portion off of her finger. He let the flavor rush over his tongue before swallowing it. When he realized he still held her hand, he quickly released it, but Kate made no effort to move. She blinked and turned slowly back to the opened bag, her body thrumming from the simple act of his lips and tongue on her skin. Kate placed her hands on the counter and drew in a breath, her mind churning. She turned back to see Washington bracing both of his hands on the counter, he looked up from the floor and caught her gaze. Kate turned to face him and he watched as she drew closer. He didn't move as she leaned into him. She placed her hands on his shoulders and kissed him. Washington tightened his grip on the counter, turning his knuckles white. She moved her lips over his and he didn't respond. He was afraid that if he did, that if he moved, he would lose control of something that he was holding inside. He knew without a doubt that he wanted her. She pulled away and he tried to calm his breathing, not wanting her to know how much she affected him. Kate looked embarrassed, perhaps thinking that he didn't reciprocate the attraction between them. She looked away from his face and started to pull back. It was more than he could stand, seeing the hurt of rejection on her face. He slipped a hand behind her back to keep her from pulling away. She looked up in surprise as he gently pulled her back to him so that her body was flush against his.

He kissed her and she sighed as she wrapped her arms around him as they heated one another. He let go of the counter to drag a hand through her hair as he held her against him with the other. He couldn't understand why he wanted her so fiercely, this strange woman who had compassion for aliens and was afraid to be left alone. She tasted like spice and cinnamon, just like the food she fed him. He groaned as he turned them around so that she was backed up against the counter. He lifted her up onto the counter and stripped her shirt off to touch her. She molded herself to him as she pushed his pants over his hips. Fingers shaking from the blood rushing through him, he took off the rest of her clothing and nestled between her legs. She gasped at the feel of him filling her. He moved inside of her and she clutched him tightly. She rested her head on his shoulder as her bodied tightened, and Washington brought a hand up to turn her head so that he could kiss her as she came. He swallowed her cries as his release overtook him, nearly causing his knees to buckle so that he braced his arm on the counter to keep from falling.

For a moment they stayed there to wait for their breathing to ease. When he was sure that he had enough strength back, he pulled back to lift Kate into her arms. He started towards her room.

She rested her head against his chest, "What about the food?"

"We'll eat later."

They were both lying in bed Kate facing him and Washington lying on his back. "Kate," he decided to ask, "Did something happen to you?" She looked at him with confusion, "When I brought you to the showers to warm you, you were frightened of something."

Kate tensed. She had thought it had been a dream. She remembered being afraid of the water, afraid of the arms that had gripped her. Then she had seen Washington's face, and she didn't know why, but she had felt completely safe.

"Nothing happened," Kate finally said, "I was lucky. A man tried to corner me while I was washing, but my trainer came in before anything happened."

He ran a hand through her hair as though to sooth her.

"Can I ask you a question too?"

Washington sighed and dropped his hand away, "What do you want to know?"

"How did you travel eight hundred years into the future? Did the UNSC authorize you to use the light drive?"

He felt himself reluctant to answer. Even though he felt himself hesitate though, Washington knew that he trusted Kate completely.

"Yes, I was one of the few authorized to use the light drive."

"What do you mean?"

Washington looked at her seriously, "The reason why I was sent a certain time into the future is because a friend of mine had created an explosion big enough to cut through the time continuum. People can travel through it eight hundred years into the future without using a light drive."

Kate gasped at the information, "But if that's true then anyone could travel through without UNSC equipment, and without notifying the government."

It was how Wyoming, South Dakota and her brother were able to travel without the UNSC knowing about it. The UNSC spacecraft was built so that if anyone used the light drive, a signal would be sent to notify the proper authorities. Even the UNSC were afraid of what someone could do if they tampered with time.

"You ever think about going back to your own time?" Kate said as she looked down at the sheets.

Washington sat up to lean on his elbow, "No, I don't think that it would be a good idea."

"Because it might damage the time continuum." Kate stated. She knew what they had was only a passing thing. It would be just like the last time. He would leave her, and they would go separate ways.

"No," His answer caused her to look up at him, "I think that I should stay here and make sure you are safe."

"I can take care of myself. The Red and Blue war is basically over ever since someone erased the Blue files at Command; there are only the rebels and the Covenant Loyalists."

"I don't have anything in the past that would make me want to go back to it." _Not like I do here, _Washington thought as he looked at Kate intently.

"We both know that you can't stay with me."

It was then that Washington knew he didn't care what it was that prevented him from having Kate in his life. He would do anything in his power to make sure she stayed in it, "I don't see why not."

Kate couldn't help but smile, "What about Command?"

Washington shrugged, "They've been off of my back ever since the incident with the Director. I don't think I'll have to worry now that the Freelancer project has been exposed."

"So you'll stay?" Kate asked, unable to keep the hope from entering her voice.

He tilted her chin up, "Looks like I am," and he didn't mean just staying on Sidewinder. Besides, he was a Freelancer, if he can save the universe, he can damn well have a relationship too.

He started to kiss her when a beeping filtered through the room. Kate pulled away with a gasp, "We have communication!" She quickly got up, wrapping the blanket around her as she rushed from the room. Washington got up and grabbed a pair of pants to put on as he followed her. He reached the communications room and Kate already had a headset on.

"This is B-2 Sidewinder outpost number one." She answered.

"Hey Kate! It's Jones, we got them!"

Kate smile in relief to hear her comrade's voice as Washington walked over to her. "Where are you?" She asked.

"We're at the Covenant base. The whole place is blowing to bits! I wish you were here to see this."

"Did you destroy it?"

"No it wasn't us. We keep hearing them jabber something on the radio though."

"Put it through." Kate said.

Washington could here the grunts and howling through her headphones, not able to make sense of any of it. Kate's eyes widened as she looked up at Washington.

"What are they saying?"

Kate's voice was so low he could barely hear her, ""Demon". They're saying "demon"."

Both Kate and Washington knew what the term meant. "That's impossible. It could be anyone wearing the MJOLNIR armor."

"No," Kate said shaking her head, "The Covenant would be able to tell the difference. After the Spartan III project was uncovered on Onyx, the UNCS stopped the program, but still wanted to use the armor. They removed all of the properties that would be harmful to people without biological enhancements. A Covenant would know if the armor was original or modified, and they haven't mentioned this word in years."

Kate looked up at Washington, they both knew what it meant, "It's a Spartan."


	5. Chapter 5

The creation of Halo belongs to Bungie.

* * *

Halo

Retribution of Romance

Cortana knew she had no other choice. Her lifespan was almost gone, and she needed to find a way to survive. Looking over at John, who was in a cryotube as they traveled to the future, she knew she had to find a way to survive even if it was for no other reason than his happiness. She reached out with her mind, knowing that what she was doing was not a good idea. Cortana had heard about how certain AI can travel through radio waves and occupy someone else's consciousness, though she had never attempted it before. After a while, Cortana was thinking about simply copying all the information she stored and giving up on finding a mind to merge with when something caught her attention. She delved into a wave and her processing froze when she touched the mind of a woman. Cortana's mind began racing at the possibilities. The person was perfect for what Cortana was attempting, and the AI was relieved that the clone had survived all these years. Their nearly identical genetics would fuse together perfectly. Cortana knew it would be dangerous to fuse herself to this woman especially in her present state, and the fact that the woman had conflicting views about the Spartan project. If Cortana gave this woman the information she held, the UNSC would not be able to take her life without losing all the data on Halo and the Covenant. It would also give the clone a dangerous advantage. Cortana looked over at John again as he slept. If Cortana did this, he may not ever find her again, or even realize that she was a part of someone else. In her deteriorating state, the clone would only be obtaining information and Cortana's "ghost". Though she was not human, she could feel the affection John had for her. With new resolve, Cortana spoke to John, hoping he would somehow hear her and understand. Cortana dived into the wave to merge with the clone. She had to hope that John would find her again. Hope that with his luck, they would find each other.

John blasted two more Grunts with the plasma pistol he had confiscated. The methane tanks exploded and left indefinable remains of their carriers. John dashed down the cold steel hallways of the UNSC base. The base had been set up on one of the outer planets of the system, and because of the tropical atmosphere, it had been one of the first places the Brutes had invaded with their army of Covenant Loyalists. The Spartan turned a corner and narrowly missed the fire from a Jackal. John pulled back and out of the creatures range. It wasn't too long ago that John had agreed to be sent into the future to subdue the Loyalist uprising. A few years before he had agreed to it, he and Cortana had been found and had continued to serve the UNSC. The thought of Cortana made him feel of sense of emptiness from the space she used to occupy in his head, but he quickly tramped the feeling down to concentrate. The reason why John was risking his life here was because one of the Covenant specialists that worked for the UNSC had heard that the Brutes were holding a "demon" hostage in this location. He couldn't loose focus when there was a chance another Spartan had managed to survive through all these years.

John dashed out and shot at the Jackal as he crossed over to the other hallway. His loss of Cortana came back to him as he tried to track the room where the Spartan was held, knowing that it would have been easier with the AI's help. Cortana life's span had ended when they had made the journey to the future, and John had been devastated though he didn't show it. Though her "death" affected him greatly, the UNSC had only been frustrated of the fact that she'd taken all of her data and had let it die with her.

John blasted a group of Grunts when a Brute came out to confront the Spartan. Knowing that hand-to-hand combat with the Brute would be too much of a risk, John backed away as he waited for the pistol to charge. The Brute ran at him when John fired and stepped out of the way as the carcass fell and slid across the floor. John came to a double set of steel doors and placed his weapon aside as he sank his fingers between the slides. The metal gave way and John shoved his way inside. He cautiously walked over to the cryotube that floated in the center of the darkened room. Inside there was a Spartan wearing grey armor. There was something strange about the cryotube; John slowly lifted a hand to touch it only to have it avoid his grasp though the capsule didn't move. He drew his hand away and remembered the UNSC had discovered that the Forerunners made slipspace field pods instead of freezing cryotubes. There was a console to his right and he walked over to it to see if it had any affect on the pod. After pressing a few buttons, there was a hiss behind him and John turned to find the pod opening as it came out of its slipspace state. The figure stumbled out and fell to their hands and knees. The person gasped as though it had difficulty breathing. The gray Spartan hastily turned away from John as it removed the helmet of its suit and retched onto the floor. John took a step forward as the Spartan took steadying breaths.

The Spartan tensed as though realizing that it wasn't alone and slowly turned its head to look over at John. John had to prevent himself from stepping back in surprise at what he saw. The woman had short cropped hair that came to her chin that was an incredibly dark brown. Her skin was pale; her eyes were a deep blue and she greatly resembled someone he knew long ago.

"Dr. Helsey?" John questioned.

As soon as he had spoken the words, the woman's face contorted in anger and with a wrenching cry hurled her helmet at him. He caught it easily as she dashed out of the room.

"Wait!" John tried to follow her when a Jackal fired at them. John stood behind one of the steel metal doors as the gray Spartan took cover by diving behind a corner. She sat against the wall and faced John as he looked over at her between the double doors. She glared at him as she got up and ran down the hall to the right of him. John sprinted after her and shot at the Jackal on his way out of the room. When John looked to see how far she had gone, she was farther away than he expected. He dashed after her and she looked behind to see him following. She picked up her speed and turned back to see a set of doors closing down the hall.

"No!" Her voice echoed as the doors slammed shut an instant before she threw herself against them as though they would open. She turned around to head down another hallway she had passed only to come up against a wall of armor. She stepped back against the doors and tilted her head up to find herself reflected in a visor. She tried to not panic as she glared at the Spartan.

He grabbed her arm roughly, "Stop running," His voice was rough as gravel, "I am not your enemy."

Lizzie felt her anger spike, "Bullshit!" She snapped.

John didn't have time to be insulted by her outburst when a group of Grunts started to shoot needles at them. Without loosening his grip on her arm, he jammed the helmet back onto her head and turned to shoot at them as he shoved her towards the hallway to their right. He dragged her along towards the first extraction point where the Longsword interceptor was to pick them up. Down the hall John could see a group of Grunts tossing a gray box around. He shot at them and they scattered, but they left the box on the floor which his companion scooped up as they ran. They got outside to the raised platform that protruded over the water. John took the Spartan to the round landing when he saw the Longsword heading their way. When the gray Spartan saw the ship, she started to struggle furiously.

"Where are you taking me?" Remembering the gray box she had, she drew it back and swung it at his head. John grabbed it before it hit him and tossed it into the ocean.

John drew her to him roughly so that she was looking at him, "I'm saving you. Stop struggling."

"I'm not one of your Spartan's John. You're not the Master Chief to me." She said coldly.

The surprise he felt at her knowing his name was short lived as a group of Seraph fighters swarmed the Longsword. Not being able to match a group of Seraph fighters alone, the Longsword was shot down. John moved to the edge of the platform as a pair of Jackals and a group of Grunts fired needlers at them.

"We're going to have to jump." John told his captive.

"You're crazy!"

John didn't give her time to decide as he shoved them both over the edge and into the water.

John got up from the sandy shore and looked around as the grey Spartan washed up beside him. He walked away from the water as she crawled up to stand. He looked to see an expanse of jungle before them.

"You barbarian!" His captive cried as she tried to push him over. When he didn't give and she came against resistance, she lost her footing and fell back into the sand. Without bothering to get up, she removed her helmet and lay sprawled on the ground. Wanting answers and disregarding her anger from the first time he had used the name, he said, "You alright Dr. Helsey?"

"Don't call me that!" The Spartan said as she leaned up and once again threw her helmet at him. The aim was low and it bounced off his leg harmlessly, "I'm nothing like her. My name is Elizabeth." She said furiously.

John walked over to her, "If you're not Dr. Halsey, who are you?"

"Please, you didn't think that a woman who flashed cloned her brain twenty times to make an AI wouldn't try to clone herself?"

"That's not possible." Cloning was illegal, and he couldn't believe Dr. Helsey would attempt it. He could believe Elizabeth was a flash clone, but with their weakened immune system, there was no way she could have survived this long.

"You should know that Dr. Helsey didn't exactly work inside the lines."

John bent down and took her chin in his hand to tilt her face up, "You're not a clone. You look different."

Lizzie didn't know why, but the fact that he noticed a difference made her feel like an actual person and not a copy. She pulled her chin out of his grasp, "Technically I'm not an identical clone of her, but she used the same procedures as though she were making one. She created me as her daughter."

John felt his thoughts reeling at the information.

As if sensing his hesitation, she asked, "Did she never tell you about the second generation of Spartan II's?"

"We were told training was postponed because of the Covenant wars."

Lizzie drew her legs up and crossed them, "Actually, we were being created by the time your generation was going through training. Instead of using flash clones to replace children that they had kidnapped for the project, Dr. Helsey thought of actually creating the new generation." When John didn't say anything, she continued, "She genetically created us so we would be born with biological enhancements instead of taking the risk of losing lives during the augmentation process like what happened in your group. Each of us was different and created from a donor. Though we were made the same way as a clone would have been, they altered us so that we could be stronger."

Lizzie looked out at the water, "Dr. Helsey treated me like her daughter for a while, she even told me about you and your friendship with Sam and Kelly, but that all changed when training started. The Covenant was getting stronger, and the troops were needed. Our training didn't take too long since we already had the biological enhancements to wear the MJOLNIR armor." Her eyes narrowed, "I never wanted to be a soldier, though I wasn't a clone, I still had Dr. Helsey's curiosity, and I couldn't take orders without question. I also had her talent for hacking into things that I shouldn't." Lizzie remembered how she had found out the casualties about the Spartan I and II programs. She had felt sick at being a part of the project.

Lizzie turned back to face John, "When I saw what they did, what they had done to you, I couldn't stay." Her features hardened, "During our first mission, I saw a chance to escape, and I took it."

John couldn't believe what she was saying. He had never thought of any other life than the one he had been given. The Spartan project had given him a purpose in life; it never crossed his mind that someone would choose otherwise. John clenched his fists, angered by how she could abandon her responsibilities.

"You shouldn't have left."

"Don't tell me you never made a choice that wasn't UNSC certified."

John thought about how he had nearly handed Avery Johnson over to the UNSC in order to fight against the Flood. He had gotten a second chance to choose, and he had spared Johnson's life. In the end it hadn't mattered. Both Johnson and Miranda Keyes had died, and John couldn't help but feel responsible in their deaths for his inability to save them.

When he didn't answer, Lizzie smirked knowingly as she shrugged and looked back at the water, "I had escaped to Onyx thinking that it was a good place to lie low for a while." She frowned, "But then I was captured by something. Sentinels." Lizzie didn't know how she knew what they were called; she had been so confused when she had first seen the Forerunner technology. She suddenly remembered the pod she had been in and turned to look at John urgently.

"How long was I in that pod?"

John took a moment to answer, but knew that she should know the truth, "It's the year 3352."

Lizzie moaned as she placed her head in her hands, trying to rein in her panic and sense of hopelessness. The Brutes must have captured her from the Sentinels.

John found it hard to see her as a Spartan. She was too emotional. John saw the silver box that she had tried to hit him with from before wash up on shore and bump against her leg. She looked down at it vaguely and lifted it up to open. She lightly smiled when she saw what was inside, "I remember these." She pulled out a row of blank stickers and a Sharpie pen.

Lizzie looked up at him, "The UNSC sent you to take me back, didn't they?" John could see why the UNSC wanted Elizabeth. She already knew too much about the projects and the UNSC would probably do anything to keep her silent. She looked back down at the box when he didn't answer. "They want to kill me," She said quietly, drawing her own conclusion from his silence.

"I don't know." John knew it was a possibility. She uncapped the pen and wrote on one of the stickers. "We need to go to the next extraction point before the Brutes scour the coast."

Lizzie peeled the sticker away from the roll and got up to walk over to him. She picked up her helmet and looked at the sticker she wrote on, "You know what the UNSC really needs?" When he didn't say anything she showed him what she wrote on the sticker. It said "My Name is the UNSC Bitch".

John frowned in confusion as Lizzie answered her own question, "A sense of humor." Faster than John could blink, she slapped the sticker to the front of his visor and took off down the beach.

With a growl of frustration, John ripped part of the sticker off to see her putting on her helmet and running towards the rocky shore on the beach. John took off after her as she disappeared within the black rocks.

Lizzie smiled as she crouched behind a jagged rock. She had taken some pleasure in telling John about her past and shaking his image of the perfect Dr. Helsey that she knew he admired. John had always been Dr. Halsey's favorite among the Spartans, and all because of his luck with a damn coin. Lizzie darted between the rock, every once in a while hearing the movement of her opponent on the soft sand. She came around a corner and shrieked in surprise when she saw John standing before her; she turned and sprinted between two rocks as she felt his hand graze her armor. She swerved through the jagged pieces of earth and stopped when she no longer heard his footsteps. She looked around but could see him nowhere in sight. With slight apprehension, Lizzie looked up to see John jump down from one of the rocks. He brought her to the ground and they both struggled, but John was still stronger and managed to pin her beneath him as her helmet tumbled off.

"Get off of me!" She screamed in frustration as she tried to catch her breath. She soon found herself looking down the barrel of a magnum as John got off of her. She slowly leaned up and noticed that part of the sticker was still on his helmet. The word "bitch" was the only thing written on it and Lizzie couldn't stop herself from laughing.

"You have something right here." Lizzie said as she pointed to her own face and smiled.

Not used to feeling so frustrated, John bent down and roughly pulled her up to stand. He put away the magnum and proceeded to tie her hands behind her back.

"Ow, stop man handling me. I bruise easily." He ignored her as he grabbed her helmet and pushed her towards the jungle.

"I fuckin' hate the rain." Lizzie complained some time later as they sat beneath a tree within the dense foliage. Her dark hair was soaked and clinging to her face as water fell thickly around them. She turned to glare at the Spartan sitting next to her. "If you gave me back my helmet, I could be dry."

"I'd best hold onto it to make sure you don't chuck it at me again."

Lizzie snorted as she tried to press herself closer to the tree to obtain shelter from the rain. She found it frustrating that he always wore his helmet. She felt strange at arguing with her own reflection. It would be nice to know if he had suffered some horrible disfigurement during the augmentation process. The thought made Lizzie smile and somewhat lesson her suffering of being drenched.

"What I wouldn't give for a cup of hot coffee." Lizzie mumbled.

John had the unfamiliar urge to smile at the comment as he remembered how Dr. Helsey's office was always littered with half-filled Styrofoam cups of coffee. Though the clone claimed to not be like her mother, they were undoubtedly alike. John looked over to her, noticing the difference between the two women. Elizabeth's hair was darker than Dr. Helsey's and instead of crystal blue eyes Elizabeth's were incredibly dark, almost violet in color. John watched her as she fell asleep and then he proceeded to scout the area to make sure that none of the Brutes were tracking them.

Lizzie slowly came awake find herself lying on the ground. She started to sit up and felt a kink in her neck. She looked around to see that John wasn't with her, and then heard a sound of footsteps coming towards her. Without moving and feigning sleep, Lizzie cautiously watched as John came towards her and Lizzie had to keep herself from sucking in her breath. John was in the process of slipping his helmet back on, but Lizzie caught a full glimpse of his face. His skin was pale like hers, and his hair was short cropped and light brown. His eyes were dark and serious that seemed out of place in his youthful features. She hated to admit to herself that he was attractive, in a primitive animal sort of way. He slipped the helmet back on and stopped when he noticed her watching him. Neither of them said anything as Lizzie sat up and looked over at him.

"John, how old are you? Thirty-one, Thirty-two?"

"Forty-five."

Lizzie gaped, "Forty-five?" Now that Lizzie thought about it, the augmentation could have an affect on the Spartan's aging process. It could give them a longer life span. Lizzie thought about how his eyes had looked and how they had appeared older than the rest of his face.

"We need to leave." John said as he helped Lizzie up.

"My enthusiasm for my execution must be showing." Lizzie said sarcastically.

"It's not that. A group of Covenant Loyalist is coming through here and we need to move."

They went through the forest and came to a clearing when John halted. The jungle ended into another coastline with only a few jagged rocks stabbing up from the sand. The jungle had become incredibly quiet and the lapping of the waves was the only sound they heard. John started to pull them back to find another route to avoid the clearing when there was a loud roar from behind them. A Hunter burst from the greenery and struck John, pushing him into the clearing and forcing him to release his grip on Lizzie. Lizzie quickly got down and hid in the foliage as a second Hunter came out to join its brother. Lizzie struggled with her bound hands to bring them under her legs so that they were in front of her. Two Brutes and a Grunt rushed out of hiding to attack the Spartan. John managed to escape the first Hunter and unloaded a few rounds of his shot gun into its lower back. The second Hunter howled at the loss of its brother. It picked up John and threw him into Lizzie's direction. The shot gun flew out of his hands and landed a few feet from her. John looked up from the ground and reached for it when he saw her. His hesitation in grabbing the weapon cost him as the Hunter grabbed his legs and pulled him back from the weapon. John tried to drag himself back, but his fingers sank into the soft ground without adding resistance. A Brute walked over and picked up the shot gun only to bend it to a useless shape as he tossed the weapon aside. The two Brutes went to either side of John and held him, the armor not having enough strength to throw the two creatures off. The Grunt aimed a needler at John as the Brutes rammed him up against a jagged rock. The other Hunter walked in front of the Spartan and aimed the fuel rod gun at him. John was looking up at the weapon, and she could just imagine his features glaring in defiance at his own death. Lizzie realized John didn't expect her to try to save him. How could he when he was to bring her into the hands of those she considered her enemy. She knew that this might be her only chance of escape, and yet the thought never entered mind as everything within her screamed to help him. It was as though a desperate voice was crying in her, _don't let him die. Save him!_

Sprinting into action before she had a chance to think about it, she held her hands close to her and dashed out towards the Hunter. With a desperate cry, Lizzie jumped up and spun in the air to kick the Hunter in the back of the head. The impact was so great that the kick crumpled the armor and cut into the creature's neck, nearly severing the head. The Hunter fell and Lizzie used one of its spikes to cut her hands free. The Grunt ran forward in agitation and leveled the needler at her. Before he could fire, she came forward and ripped the tubes of its methane tank, causing it to gasp and choke.

Lizzie grabbed the weapon from the suffocating alien as she aimed to skewer the head of one of the Brutes with the explosive needles as the other one approached her. The creature pushed the weapon aside and reached for her head in an effort to crush her vulnerable skull. Lizzie pulled away and flipped back to kick the Brute in the face and put him off balance. As she landed back on the ground she rushed at the staggering creature. She climbed up onto its back and grabbed its head wrenching until the snapping of bone broke the Brutes neck.

The alien fell and Lizzie stumbled away from it, looking down at it until she looked over to see John staring at her. Though she couldn't see his eyes, she knew he was. Dizziness swept over her and she felt her legs buckle when John was beside her an instant later to keep her up.

John looked down at her in disbelief as she leaned against him for support. What he had just seen was impossible to fathom. Lizzie had moved fast enough that it could have rivaled Kelly, and the strength she used to overpower the Brute was beyond normal Spartan durability.

"You alright?" John asked as she looked up at him.

She studied his visor intently, "I think so."

He gripped her shoulder and ignoring his sense to not question what had happened, he lightly shook her, "Why did you save me? You had the perfect opportunity to get away."

She glared up at him, "Because I'm not heartless like you John. I can't just turn my feelings off and stand by to watch someone die."

John didn't know why, but her assumption of his character angered him, "Spartans have feeling just as much as everyone else, we just don't show it, and I would never abandon a comrade under any circumstance."

"You should have told that to my team."

"What?"

"On our first mission, I was trapped in a Covenant spacecraft. Instead of coming back for me, they assumed I was MIA and they continued with the mission to see it through. That was when I escaped; I didn't see the point of staying in a project where winning was more important than saving every life that you can."

The words were what Dr. Helsey had told him when she had given him the choice of sparing Johnson's life. "Dr. Helsey felt the same way." Lizzie looked up at him in surprise, "It just took her longer to realize it, and for me to understand it."

Lizzie's feature softened and she smiled, "I guess I was wrong about you then." A strange sensation stole through John as she smiled at him. Ignoring it, he released Lizzie and stepped away from her. "I didn't mean it when I said you didn't have a heart you know." She said teasingly as she tapped his breast plate, "I know that you have a purple one in there somewhere."

They began their trek through the jungle to find a place to rest for the night when Lizzie asked, "Do you remember your life before you became a Spartan?"

Somewhat caught off guard by the question, it took a moment for John to answer, "Not really." It seemed more like a dream to him than an actual part of his history.

"I always thought it would have been nice to have been born human. To be made of something more than just stolen thoughts and memories."

Her words struck a cord in John's memory of Cortana's suffering at the tortures of Gravemind. Cortana had uttered the same words in her agony as the Flood leader had attempted to tear her mind apart. John could never imagine the dark chasms that must be in a clones mind as to its identity. Even Cortana in her time with Gravemind had confessed her insecurities from being a copy of someone else. John looked over to Elizabeth who had donned her helmet so that he couldn't see her features. His thoughts drew back to his mission and how he was starting to have doubts about the motives of the UNSC. He knew the government wouldn't let someone like Elizabeth go free. If she refused to cooperate with them, she could easily be killed or forced into captivity. The thought didn't settle well in John's mind. He couldn't imagine someone like Elizabeth being put into a cage. He was dragged out of his thoughts when Elizabeth gasped and pointed through the trees.

He turned to see a base through the foliage. As they drew closer, it appeared to be uninhabited. They cautiously entered and saw how debris and growth had infiltrated the abandoned base.

"Looks like the Covenant hasn't been here," Elizabeth said as she checked the rooms. When she came to one at the end of the hall she froze. John went over to see what was inside. Upon the floor of the room was part of a body in MJOLNIR armor, but instead of the decay of a human body, there were wires and rusting parts spewing out of it.

"Must have been one of the androids that the UNSC invested in before the Spartan project." Lizzie pulled off her helmet and kneeled down next to the figure, "They were supposed to be the new generation of soldiers but there wasn't enough funding available to keep up with production." She stood up and walked passed John to the hallway.

She turned her head and shrugged at him, "I guess I was your replacement just as you were theirs. Do you ever think of what you would do if you had to retire?"

"I've never had a reason to think about it." John said as they both heard a sound come from down the hall. John grabbed Lizzie and dashed into another room, sealing the door behind them. They stayed close together and seemed to hold their breath as they heard heavy footsteps outside the door. They waited for what felt like hours to Lizzie for the footsteps of the Brutes to leave. When all was silent, Lizzie let out her breath. John cautiously went over to the door and checked outside of it.

"It's all clear."

"John?"

He slid the door back and turned to her, "What is it?"

The light in the room was dim, but Lizzie's eyes adjusted enough that she could see his outline in the darkness. She walked over to him and dropped her helmet. With slow movement, as though she were approaching a wild animal, she lifted her hands to his helmet. His hands came up to grab her wrists.

"What are you doing?"

Lizzie remained silent as she slowly slipped out of his grip to place her hands on either side of his helmet. She didn't know why, but his words from before was causing her to reach for him. She wanted to give him another reason for living rather than for the honor of winning a good fight. She wanted to show him what it could be like if he hadn't always been a soldier. She slipped his helmet off and he didn't make another move to stop her.

"I wanted to see you." Lizzie said as she took off her gloves and placed her hands on his cheeks. John drew his breath in sharply at the contact of her skin against his. The touch had a strange affect on him when he realized that his heart started pounding. She ran her fingers over his face, and his body shivered. He couldn't remember the last time someone had touched him in such an intimate manner. Her touch was so alien to him, and yet his body leaned into it. His mind balked at the intimacy and yet his body seemed to crave it. He couldn't understand what seemed to draw him to her.

Lizzie could feel how his body was tensing as she ran her hands over his features. She was fascinated by the hardness of his jaw and how there was a slight indentation in his brow from frowning. Very slowly, she drew closer to his face until her lips grazed his. John gasped and drew his face away from her lips, but did not pull away. Lizzie drew close to him once again and pressed her lips to his.

John felt his body jerk at the softness of her lips and his entire body tighten. He wasn't so naïve that he didn't know what was happening to him. His education had taught him all he needed to know about procreation, but it didn't make the feelings Elizabeth was provoking any less unnerving. Lizzie ran her fingers through his hair and a groan escaped his throat at the gesture. Encouraged by the sound, Lizzie slid her hands over his armor, seeking the clasps that kept it sealed to him. She had just released the clasp on the breast plate when he stilled her hands with his.

"Wait," He said drawing away.

Lizzie felt embarrassed at her attempt to seduce John. Her feelings were in torment over how she felt for him. She desperately wanted to hate him while at the same time she wanted to show him what it was like to feel affection. His withdrawal made her think about the biological enhancements that he had endured. One of the side affects was a subdued sex drive. Lizzie felt a sense of disappointment in the thought that he didn't feel anything for her as a woman. Lizzie looked down at his breast plate that had thudded to the floor. Lizzie looked up to realize that he wore no clothing beneath his armor. Her cheeks flushed as she stared at his sculpted chest. His skin was stretched taut over his muscles giving him an almost lethal aura of bridled power. Lizzie suddenly remembered another side affect of the process called eliphantilism. The side affect caused severe enlargement below the waist, casing muscle to sag and bulge under the skin to resemble the large proportions of an elephant. Even in the armor, Lizzie could tell that his legs were unaffected. When another thought crossed her mind, her gaze wandered down below his chest and stomach. When she realized what she was doing, a bit of nervous laughter bubbled out of her throat before she could stop it. She placed a hand over her mouth when she sensed his fierce gaze on her.

"What's so funny?"

Lizzie waved a hand dismissively, "It's nothing." An image of an army of studly men entered her mind and another spurt of laughter escaped her.

John felt several things when she laughed. He felt embarrassed, uncertainness, and hunger. Having the impression that she was laughing at him, he reacted on his anger and drew her against him to fuse his lips to hers. Lizzie laughter quickly died from the onslaught of his lips. She quickly went to unlatch the rest of his armor and he released her of hers. She could tell he was frustrated in his lack of control and was trying to make up for it by taking over her completely. He pressed her to the ground and moved his lips roughly against hers. She reached out to touch him and his body shivered as a growl left his throat. He grabbed the hand touching him and twined his fingers through it to place above her head. He nudged her legs apart and started to slip inside of her. Lizzie gasped, causing John to stop moving as she stiffened beneath him.

It wasn't as if this was the first time Lizzie made love to a man, but their difference in size made his entry uncomfortable. She had always been teased about her small stature by the other Spartans since they had all been about the size of John. The scientist had always been puzzled at what had gone wrong during her creation to make her so petite. She had never minded it until now.

"What's wrong?" John asked his voice tight and strained as he tried to hold himself still since he sensed that he had hurt her.

"Nothing," Lizzie said gently as she reached up to find his brow creased in a frown. She smiled and tried to will her body to relax, "I'm just not used to someone of your size is all."

"Do you want me to stop?" His concern for her touched some part of her that relished in the fact that he cared.

"No, just give me a minute." She slowly moved beneath him and John felt sweat break out over his skin as her body gripped his. She wrapped one leg around his waist and pulled him deeper into her. John groaned as he began to move against her. When he realized that she no longer seemed to feel pain, his movement became more urgent and forceful as though he were conquering some strange barrier of intimacy. The force of him caused Lizzie's blood to burn as he gripped her hand tighter and kissed her fiercely. They both pressed against each other as though trying to mold themselves to become one. With his free hand he gripped her hips to keep her from sliding as he pressed into her harder and faster. Lizzie's body tightened almost painfully as her climax slammed into her and she cried out beneath him. John's movements seemed to falter as he felt her reach release and she reached her hand up to caress his face. She felt his face go slack as his body shook and a cry was choked from him as he reached his release. He landed hard on his elbows as he struggled to keep his weight off of her. His breath sawed out of his chest and hit the side of her neck. Lizzie scooted over to allow him to lie on his side. Their hands remained joined over his stomach, but other than this, Lizzie didn't attempt to touch him. She knew he was probably feeling incredibly vulnerable from what they had just done, and Lizzie was sure that he hadn't done this before. She knew how uncomfortable it would be for a Spartan to feel such intimacy when they were so used to a life of war and violence.

He removed his fingers from hers and she curiously trailed hers to his collar bone to find the scar that she had felt on his skin.

"What is this from?" She didn't know why she was asking, it was probably one of many scars that he had received. He didn't move under her touch.

"A Flood got too close to me."

Lizzie bent down and kissed the scar and John felt something lodge in his chest at the action. With his hand shaking, he ran it through her silky hair, never being able to recall anything that had ever been so soft and comforting. She drew her head away to look into his face, and he fidgeted under her scrutiny. He finally leaned up to rise.

"We should head out before anymore Covenant return."

Lizzie couldn't help but feel slightly pained by his withdrawal, but she knew that it was foolish to feel so. John was raised to be a soldier; she knew that any kind of attachment that she formed with him would not last. She stood up as they both donned their armor before leaving the room.

They both cautiously surveyed their surroundings to make sure that the Brutes hadn't come back to the abandoned base. When they were making their way around the perimeter of the building, they both halted when they saw a Seraph fighter sitting within a small clearing in the jungle. Three Grunts patrolled the craft.

"We'll make our way around them to get to the second extraction point." John stated.

Lizzie felt her insides freeze at his words and she looked over to him. She tightened her grip on the battle rifle he had given her. "You're still going to take me to Command?"

John hesitated in answering, but knew there was no easy way around the subject, "Our top priority is to get off of this planet."

Lizzie raised her rifle and aimed it at John, "I told you I'm not going back."

"Elizabeth," John cautioned, not making any sudden moves, "I will make sure that you come to no harm by Command."

"I'm not going. Even if they don't force me into servitude, they'll tear me to pieces to see how I can benefit humanity, just like what they would have done to Avery Johnson if they knew about his condition."

The impact of her knowledge on the information struck him, but he kept his words leveled, "How do you know about that?"

Lizzie didn't hide her surprise in John knowing about the Marine, "I told you I was a good hacker. When I heard how he had survived an attack by the Flood, I did some research into his background and found out he had Boren's Syndrome because of his exposure to plasma. It wasn't hard to figure out." She brought the gun up higher, "So, if you knew, then why didn't you report it to Command?"

"I made a choice not to."

The response seemed to relax her and she lowered her weapon, "I don't think that even you have the strength to protect me, John."

John would never admit how much he wanted to prove her wrong. He knew without a doubt that whatever happened, he would make sure that Elizabeth would remain safe. There was a commotion from their left as a group of Brutes spotted them and began to fire.

"Head for the ship!" John commanded as he shoved Elizabeth towards the space craft and threw a grenade at the Brutes. Lizzie killed the three Grunts and John jumped into the ship as she sealed the door behind them. Being familiar with Covenant vessels, John immediately headed for the control room with Lizzie behind him. He didn't notice when Lizzie suddenly stopped in front of a pair of sliding door with windows looking into the room. She walked over to the doors and saw an anti-matter bomb sitting on the other side of the glass. She could hear weapons firing up ahead, but she paid no heed to them as she deftly opened the door and stepped into the room. She slipped off her helmet with one hand while keeping a death grip on the rifle in the other. It was as though something was pulling her in, causing her to feel weak and disoriented. Information about the bomb began to filter through her head, how to activate it and disarm it. She dropped her helmet and reached out a hand to the round timer on the top of the spiked object. Memories flashed behind her eyes. Memories that weren't hers that she was seeing through John's eyes. She thought of his plan to use the anti-matter bomb as though it were a part of her own thoughts. This was a different bomb, a different place, a different time. _Lucky for both of us, I like crazy._ It was a voice that Lizzie had heard before when John was nearly killed. _What if we don't make it?_

_We will._ The voice was John's.

Lizzie ripped her hand away from the bomb as though it had burned her. Her breathing had become labored as her mind raced with an explanation. Instead she crumpled to her knees. She didn't know how long she had stayed there, but she could feel John walk up behind her.

Lizzie looked up at him and then out the small window in the door on the other side of the room to realize that they were in space.

"You should come see something." John stated.

Lizzie grabbed her helmet and her rifle as she followed John to the cockpit of the ship.

"John, what happened to Cortana?"

John steered the ship and checked the coordinates, "Her life-span ended." The answer was swift, giving Lizzie the impression that it hurt him to have Cortana gone. Lizzie looked back out into space from the seat next to him. It was strange to contemplate, but Lizzie was beginning to suspect that Cortana had somehow infiltrated her consciousness when the A.I. died. It explained the memories and the information about the Covenant and Halo that Lizzie was beginning to understand. She had heard of A.I. being able to merge with people, but usually the A.I. had a stronger presence within their host. Perhaps when Cortana died, Lizzie received only a small portion of her. alo Were the feelings that she had for John Cortana's or her own? Was he drawn to her only for the reason of Cortana's presence within Lizzie?

"That's it." John said as they rounded the planet and a giant object blocked out the sun in the solar system. Lizzie had never before seen the structure, but she knew what it was. It was an Unyielding Hierophant, a Covenant vessel able to hold five-hundred ships.

"It must be one of the Covenant Loyalists strongholds," Lizzie said.

"I'll try to get closer, and then you will have to take over for a while."

"You're not going to try to destroy that thing are you?" Lizzie knew that he was thinking of using the anti-matter bomb. John's silence was the only confirmation that she got. John shifted to auto-pilot as he left to go to the room with the bomb. Lizzie got up to follow him. He had just opened the sliding doors to the room when Lizzie stepped in front of him.

"You know this is crazy." Lizzie said looking up at him.

John nodded. She placed her hands on either side of his helmet and looked into his visor. She then rose up unexpectedly and placed her lips on his visor where his mouth would have been if he hadn't been wearing his helmet. "I guess I'm crazy too."

She shoved back from John and closed the doors.

"What are you doing?" John tried to open the door, but she had already sealed it. She pressed a few more buttons on the panel that led into space and checked to make sure that the vessel was level with the Covenant ship.

"Don't do this." John said, pounding a fist on the glass.

Lizzie walked over to the door to look at him, "You know Command would see me dead anyway, and I'd rather it were me than you."

"I don't want you to go." John felt the words slip out of his mouth before he could stop them. For the first time that he could remember, he didn't give a damn about his mission to destroy the Covenant Loyalists, not if it was Lizzie's life on the line.

Lizzie smiled as she backed away from the doors, but John could see her eyes begin to water. "I promise that we'll see each other again." She slipped on her helmet and grabbed a hold of one of the spikes on the bomb, "And you know what they say when you make a promise."

Lizzie opened the door to space and she slipped out while holding onto the bomb as it drifted towards the Hierophant. The door slid shut and John watched it close. Knowing that there was little he could do, and hating himself for it, he walked back to the cockpit. John sat down, trying to remember why Lizzie's last words were triggering something in his mind. John tried to contact Lizzie through her radio, but there was no response, and he no longer had a visual on her. His fingers froze over the keys of the panel when he mind grasped the meaning behind her words. Though he had been in cyro-sleep, he suddenly remembered an echo of Cortana's voice within his mind. She had said the exact same thing as Lizzie had said when she had supposedly died. Could it simply have been a coincidence? After all, Lizzie had said many things that linked her with Dr. Helsey, but even then, Cortana and Dr. Helsey had been different from one another. John got up and went to the front window. What did Cortana mean? John felt a cold feeling drench him at the thought that somehow Cortana and Lizzie were connected to one another. Could it have been that instead of copying her information to a hard drive Cortana had copied it to a human mind? There was flash of light and John saw the explosion engulf the Hierophant.

"No." John whispered, a sickening feeling washing over him at the destruction. The possibility of Lizzie's survival was unlikely. Had he failed Lizzie as well in protecting her as he had with Miranda and Avery? Failed as he had in leaving Sam to die? Not allowing himself to dwell on the subject any further, he contacted headquarters to give his status on his mission, telling them that he had destroyed a Covenant Loyalist stronghold, but had lost the unidentified Spartan hostage, reporting Lizzie as being MIA as any of his other soldiers.

"Copy that Master Chief, report back to headquarters immediately. Command has found something regarding the A.I. Cortana and will disclose the information to you when you return."

Information about Cortana? Could it be that she had left something behind after all? With one last looked at the destroyed Hierophant, John did a quick scan of the area to see if there were any survivors. When he found none, he headed back to base.

A few days later, John returned from headquarters to a planet near the one where he had found Lizzie. A distress signal had gone out a few hours ago and John volunteered to check through the wreckage of the explosion. He drove the Warthog over the desert landscape of the planet, searching the source of the signal. He stopped the vehicle when he climbed over a dune and found a large piece of burning wreckage strewn against a protruding rock from the ground. Seeing that the signal was coming from the wreckage, John got out of the vehicle and hefted his shotgun over his shoulder. He walked over to the wreckage when a figure popped out of the debris.

"John!"

John stopped, at first not believing what he was seeing until it started running towards him.

"We did it! We got them!" Lizzie took of her helmet and dropped it as she ran towards him and John dropped his gun as she jumped into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and looked into her visor. John slowly placed her back on the ground, not having realized that he had picked her up in their embrace. Lizzie smiled as she looked up at him, "I told you that I'd keep my promise."

Conflicting feelings warred within John, feelings that were completely alien to him as relief flowed through him at Lizzie's survival. Not knowing any other way to show his feelings, he placed two fingers over his visor and ran them across the front, the Spartan sign that was used to express their happiness. He stood before her, wanting to tell her what he had discovered from Command, "Command found a hidden file that Cortana had left before she died. It tells us how she fused her consciousness to yours because you shared DNA with Dr. Helsey."

Lizzie slightly fidgeted under his intense stare, still slightly disoriented by his sudden withdrawal. "I know."

John slightly relaxed at her acceptance of this information, "Are you alright?"

Lizzie looked up at him and gave a slight smile, "Yes, it's still me, I just happen to have all of her data in my mind, though I only remember it in pieces." Her smile vanished as she realized what else he had said, "I guess Command will want me now more than ever in order to extract the data from me."

The fear in her face caused John to place his hands on her shoulders, "They cannot touch you Elizabeth. Cortana made it explicably clear in her file that if Command attempted to extract the information or harm you in any way, then all of her data will be lost."

Lizzie placed a hand her to mouth, "Then, she saved me. She made sure that I would live if Command ever found me."

"It would seem so," John said as he let his hands fall to his sides, "Command only made one demand if you were ever found alive."

"What?" Lizzie asked

"They asked that you be my partner as Cortana had once been." Misreading her shocked reaction, he added, "I realize that this is not an ideal choice for you regarding your feelings towards Command, but if you so choose, I will report that I never found you." Though it was hard for him to give her such a choice, it wasn't because he was disobeying Command, but because he didn't want her to go. But he knew that it wouldn't be fair in keeping her with him. He was a Spartan, and that meant that he had to ignore his feelings in letting someone go.

He was torn out of his thoughts when a smile broke out on Lizzie's face. She was looking at him in a way that made him feel uncomfortable and vulnerable. The latter feeling being completely new to him.

She then bit her bottom lip and shrugged, "I guess you're stuck with me then."

Surprise didn't have time to register before confusion and anger took over, "What? This is you're chance to be free, why won't you take it?"

She walked up to him and placed her hands on either side of his helmet, "If you think that you're getting rid of me that easily, then you are a fool." She took off his helmet and he winced as the sun hit his eyes since he was not used to having his helmet off in daylight. She saw how he was frowning and her smile widened.

"I don't understand." John said.

She removed her gloves and placed her hands on either side of his face, causing his breath to draw in sharply, "Do you honestly think now that I have found you I'm going to be able to just walk away? Besides, someone needs to watch your back." He placed his hands over hers, still unbelieving in what she was saying.

"You won't be happy." He told her.

"You idiot," Lizzie said, "What makes you think that I'm not happy when I'm with you." With that, she rose up and kissed him as his arms circled around her, holding her close. For the first time that he could remember, he felt the kind of happiness that couldn't be experienced with victory.

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If you haven't reviewed before, please review for this one!


	6. Chapter 6

This story takes place during the events of Reconstruction when Doc is called to Last Resort.

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Red vs. Blue

Retribution of Romance

"Stupid windmill." Frank mumbled as he looked up at the annoying spinning contraption. He walked to the outside of the base and saw the tranquil ocean which did nothing to calm his agitated feelings at being abandoned out in the middle of Last Resort. He felt unbalanced from being in a place that reminded him of the time when he had been possessed by O'Malley. Even thinking of the evil A.I. now still put him on edge. He was contemplating going back to Command when there was an explosion that shook the ground beneath him. Frank looked down the left side of the beach and saw a soldier come around an outcropping of rock, shooting at something behind him. The soldier in black ODST armor sprinted for the base as a group of Jackals came out and fired Needlers. Frank followed after the black soldier with a string of pink needles stabbing the sand behind him.

He saw the soldier throw something onto the wall of the entrance and Frank ran past it to see that it was a spike grenade. They sprinted to the exit through the building on the other side of the base as the grenade exploded, blocking the entryway behind them. Both of them had made it out the other side of the base when the ODST soldier stumbled and leaned his back against the red rock surrounding the dusty road that led to Valhalla. Frank stopped and looked back at the base to see another explosion of fire rise from within it. The black soldier breathed heavily as he looked down to his right thigh where his hand was pressed. The trooper drew his hand away and a stream of blood poured out of a gash that had cut through his armor. Quickly, he placed his hand back over the wound to slow the bleeding.

"Fuck." the soldier breathlessly cursed as he turned his head and spotted Frank. The soldier raised his magnum and Frank backed away with hands raised.

"Are you a medic?" the woman questioned in between labored breaths.

"Um, yes." Frank felt his answer sounded more like a question than an answer.

"What are you waiting for then? Get the fuck over here and help me." She lowered her gun and shifted her weight from the rock that was supporting her. Frank went over and wrapped her left arm around his neck to help her walk away from the base and cross over to a more secluded spot within a cavern space among the red rock. He placed her on the ground and she propped herself against a boulder as he started removing the armor on her torso. When he removed her right thigh piece, a pocket of blood fell onto the ground. Frank started to feel sick at the sight of the thick liquid. He hastily took off his helmet and dabbed at his damp forehead with the back of his hand.

"What's wrong with you?" The woman asked in agitation. She was uncomfortable that the medics blue eyes looked uncertain as a lock of his brown hair fell over his brow.

"I get nauseous around blood." Frank said as he got out an injection of biofoam to stop the bleeding. She was silent a moment before struggling to get her helmet off with one hand, not wanting to put her gun down until they were a safer distance away from Last Resort. She let her helmet drop and she looked at him with hazel eyes. Her short dark blonde hair stuck to her pale face just above her chin.

"Are you shitting me?" Frank winced at her harsh language. "But you're a doctor."

Frank swallowed before answering, "Technically no, I never really finished medical school."

"That's just great; do you even know what you're doing?" She said eyeing the injector.

"This biofoam should stop the bleeding. I can check if anything is damaged once we get you out of here." His hands trembled in handling the injector as he hesitated to use it.

"Anytime before I bleed to death would be nice," She snapped sarcastically.

"I'm not exactly sure how to use this. It might sting a little."

Just then, a Jackal came around the corner aiming a Needler at them. Before Frank could blink, the woman had raised her magnum and shot the alien in the head with deadly precision. The creature fell over dead as she lowered her gun and turned to Frank to see him staring at the lifeless body. With a sigh of frustration, she grabbed the injector, jabbed it into her wound and pressed the switch.

She breathed in sharply, leaning over in pain as Frank took the injector from her and slipped his helmet back on hastily before putting her armor back into place. Another explosion shook the ground and Frank quickly helped her up as he grabbed her helmet with his free hand. He wrapped an arm around her waist to help her walk as they proceeded off the road and headed towards the thick forest.

"'Sting a little'?" She complained as they stumbled to a stop. "That shit fucking burns."

"Try to think of something else then." Frank suggested.

"Like what?" She bit out between clenched teeth as they started walking again.

He held her close for support as she limped beside him. "What's your name?"

"Lindsey Grant." She answered.

"That's a nice name. I'm Frank Dufresne."

She looked at him as though he had just offered her cough syrup, "What kind of a name is Dufresne? You can barely pronounce the damn thing."

"I didn't really have much choice in the matter." Frank said defensively.

"Whatever, sit me down for a minute." She was out of breath as he placed her on the ground. Though she had been trained for combat and kept in decent physical shape, she had lost enough blood to cause her endurance to slacken.

Lindsey eyed his armor and frowned. "What division do you belong to?" Frank stared at her in confusion through his visor.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

She gestured to his armor, "You're wearing violet, it doesn't seem to match either color category for red or blue."

"That's because I don't belong to either division. I'm neutral." Frank told her.

Ignoring his gesture to help her, she pushed herself up off the ground. "Why would you be neutral? The red and blue wars ended hundreds of years ago and the two sides' just serve as different fractions of the UNSC."

Frank shifted his footing and looked at the ground, "It's a long story."

"One we don't have time for," Lindsay's said before looking at him suspiciously, "If your neutral, does that mean you help members of the Covenant Loyalists?"

"Of course I do." Frank said.

The silence that stretched between them became thick with tension. Frank saw how the trooper's posture had stiffened and her jaw clenched as she glared at him. Frank could have kicked himself for letting such a comment slip, even though it was the future, many people had suffered from recent Covenant Loyalist attacks. The last thing that he wanted to do was make her angry, especially when she still had a tight grip on the magnum in her hand.

"I take it you don't like aliens." Frank stated.

He saw the muscles in her jaw flex, "You could say that. But what I would like to know is why the UNSC would allow some spineless jackass like you to join the army."

"There's really no need for harsh language." Frank said disapprovingly.

"Fuck you." Lindsay shot back, remembering how her home on planet Circumstance had been destroyed by Covenant Loyalists when she was little, and from that day on, she knew she would do anything to protect anyone from the loss that she had experienced.

"Look, maybe we got off on the wrong foot," Frank said nervously. He went to her holding out her helmet and she snatched it from him.

"I could care less what a neutral medic has to say," Lindsey said as she placed her helmet back on. She turned from him and took a step forward, ignoring the pain in her thigh.

"You really shouldn't walk on that." Frank told her.

"Shut up" she snapped. "How long will the foam hold?"

Frank frowned, "It will stay for about an hour before it breaks, but since your injury isn't critical, you probably won't bleed to death."

"That's comforting," Lindsey turned on her radio, "Bravo team, this is Bravo four, what is your status?"

There was no answer, only static.

"Bravo team do you copy?" When there was only more static, she turned back around to see Frank still standing behind her. "Did you have transport to report back to Command?"

"I had used the teleporter back at the base." Frank mumbled.

"Shit." She sighed, realizing that she had literally blown their chances at having that option even if the base was overrun by Jackals. She used her GPS and found the closest Command base that was past the Valhalla vicinity located in Standoff. Knowing that she wouldn't be able to get there with her injury she turned to Frank. "We'll head back on foot then."

"Here, let me help you," Frank offered again as she proceeded to walk, but she shoved away from him.

"I'm fine, now let's get going."

Some time passed where they said nothing. Finally, Frank broke the silence. "What are you doing out here anyway?"

Lindsey looked over at the medic, preferring silence to conversation, but figuring there was no harm in telling a neutral soldier about her mission. "A rogue Freelancer agent has been killing people so Command sent an ODST team out here to stop him."

Frank's step faltered at this information, but Lindsey hadn't noticed. "The reason why Command had thought it necessary to send the troopers was because the agent wouldn't expect a ground attack or be able to read us on radar since ODST armor doesn't have the same signature of Spartan armor."

"I didn't know that the troopers still wore the standard issue ODST armor." Frank said, "I thought that every soldier had been updated to Spartan armor."

"You only have the privilege to wear Spartan armor because it has been accommodated to you." Lindsay said coolly. "There is no specialized training that you have to endure like an ODST since our armor is created purposefully for subduing hostile ground assaults without detection. We work exclusively for the UNSC Special Forces to ensure the protection of all mankind regardless of sides, and fight against anything that seeks to destroy us."

Frank could tell that he had somehow offended her with his comment. He couldn't tell why other than perhaps the ODST soldiers took pride in not having to use Spartan armor, but it didn't seem necessary for her to continually antagonize him with her snide remarks on him being neutral. Her attitude managed to grate on his nerves even more than sharing his mind with O'Malley. The thought was unsettling. Frank had always been able to control his emotions to achieve a constant state of calmness, but with the trooper, he felt indignation rise up inside of him. Frank had always had a tendency to sometimes say the wrong thing, but usually not to this extent. There was something about Lindsay that made his mind go blank to the consequences of what he said, and his lapse in control bothered him.

Lindsey felt her stomach growl, reminding her that it had been a while since she last ate. She checked her pack to find that she lost most of her supplies in outrunning the Jackals that had attacked her team. When their HEV pods were deployed, the main objective was to prevent the Meta from escaping Last Resort, but instead their pods had landed in the middle of an ambush of Jackals along the coast some distance from the base. It was strange that the Jackals would attack the troopers with such organized stealth when the stronghold of the Loyalists had been recently demolished. With the recent addition of Stealth Ablative coating to the HEV pods so that they wouldn't show on radar, there was no way that the Jackals could have known the location of the pods landing site. Lindsey had a feeling that someone had led them to the location where her team had landed, and if that was the case, then they were dealing with something much more serious than just a rogue Freelancer agent.

She turned her head to look back at the medic. "Do you have anything to eat?"

"I might have a granola bar somewhere." Frank offered as he began to search for the food compartment in his armor, anything to take his mind off the matter of a Freelancer on a killing spree.

Lindsey grimaced, "Don't you have any sealed packs of beefsteak or chopped ham?"

"Of course not. I'm a vegetarian." Frank told her as he continued to search for the granola bar.

Lindsey stopped and stared at him for a moment, "What?"

"I'm a vegetarian, I don't eat meat."

Lindsey couldn't imagine going a day without being able to eat meat. It was a strange choice for a soldier since most of the packaged meals that she could think of had meat in them.

She suddenly gasped and leaned against a nearby tree.

"What's wrong?" Frank asked as he quickly moved to her side.

"I think the foam is breaking."

Frank had her sit down and lean her back against the tree as he stripped off her armor from the torso and legs. Lindsey reached up and took off her helmet, the light breeze cooling her flushed face. Frank took off his helmet and got out his scanner as he proceeded to check for further damage beneath the cut.

"What are you doing?" She asked as he proceeded to scan the wound.

"I'm checking to see if there is any further damage."

Lindsey blinked. "That's a plasma pistol."

"What?" Frank asked tilting the object to the side and looking at it. "No it's not; my medical advisor told me it's a biological scanner."

"He lied. That's a fucking plasma pistol," Lindsey said as she shoved the weapon away from her leg

Frank looked at the weapon in horror, "Why would he tell me it was a scanner?"

"Probably so that you would shoot a patient and get court martial."

Frank gaped at her in astonishment, "That's horrible!"

Lindsey shrugged, "Any idiot who actually mistook a plasma pistol for a biological scanner shouldn't really be in the army anyway."

He glared at her, "Do you want me to help you or not?"

She lifted her hands in mock surrender, "Just as long as you don't accidentally kill me in the process."

He ignored the last comment as he focused on her injury. He removed his gloves and set them by his helmet. His hands were gentle as he cleaned out the wound and got out the utensils to stitch it up. He gave her another injection to numb the area around the cut as he proceeded to sew the torn flesh back together.

He examined the end result of his work, somewhat surprised that he had done so well on a patient. Then again, he did have a lot of practice in surgery, especially whenever Caboose's heart was ripped out by Church and he had to put it back in numerous times.

Lindsey hated to notice how his hands were warm on her thigh where the numbing agent hadn't taken affect. Lindsey felt her throat go dry for some reason. She didn't know why she suddenly felt so nervous, he was a medic after all and more than likely had seen far more on other people than a bare leg. When his fingers brushed over her inner thigh, Lindsey shifted in surprise from the contact.

"Watch the hands," She said around her dry throat to cover up her nervousness, "You're not exactly my type."

He frowned as he looked up at her, "Why do you say that?"

Lindsey thought about this, not expecting him to ask for a reason. "You mean besides the fact that you're a neutral medic that makes friends with aliens?"

Frank grinned, "I wouldn't call them friends, but ya, despite that, why would you say I'm not your type?"

Lindsay rolled her eyes, and couldn't help but humor him when he was grinning at her, revealing dimples in both of his cheeks. "Well, for one thing, you're too nice."

His mouth dropped, "What's wrong with being nice?"

"Didn't you ever go to high school?" Lindsey asked raising an eyebrow, "Girls don't like nice guys."

"That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Only mean girls don't like nice guys," Frank said before he could think better of it.

"Are you saying I'm a mean girl?" Lindsay asked. It was strange how easy it was to enter into such harmless banter with the medic. But Lindsay couldn't help it. She had a strange urge to antagonize him to see if his calm composure would suddenly break.

Frank couldn't help but laugh, "Not when compared to a Hunter." Lindsay looked at him blankly. "That was a joke."

"It wasn't that funny." Lindsay stated.

"It wouldn't hurt you to smile every once in a while." Frank muttered. He couldn't explain why he felt such agitation. Even when Omega had infiltrated his mind, Frank had never felt so unnerved. Trying to pay less attention on the smoothness of her skin, and more on her injury, he placed a cream over the wound that would accelerate the healing process. When he drew away from her she tried to stand, but her leg felt like dead weight.

"What did you do?" She asked. Possibilities ran through her head that she had made him angry enough to cause some sort of paralysis.

"You're not going to be able to walk while the area is still numb. You need to rest anyway." Frank told her as he stood, feeling somewhat satisfied that she was temporarily at a disadvantage in physically hurting him.

She looked up to glare at the evil medic, "You just want me to sit here?"

He asked, "Does it really matter if you do? There's no reason for this Freelancer guy to come after us."

Lindsey sighed as she looked to the ground, "I suppose not. He has only been targeting agents that still have A.I."

She looked up and could see how Frank's eyes filled with dread at this information, "Freelancers still have their A.I.? But I thought the UNSC ended that project years ago."

"They did, but most of them were able to go rogue. Apparently the A.I. didn't like the idea of being terminated."

Frank was relieved that the rogue agent wouldn't come after them, but it didn't help with the concern that he had for his comrades from Blood Gulch. As far as he knew, Omega had been destroyed in the explosion. Having Omega in his head was a nightmare; he couldn't even imagine someone crazy enough to acquire more than one A.I. Frank had also heard rumors from Command of agents illegally traveling into the future, he didn't realize that there had been more people that had escaped Command with their A.I. For some reason Frank didn't want to tell her of his A.I. experience. At this point he wasn't going to take a chance of ending up on anyone's hit list.

"We'll rest here for the night if that's alright with you," Frank informed Lindsey even though he also felt the need to move out of the area as fast as possible.

She ground her teeth, "Since I can't walk it doesn't make much of a difference, does it?"

A few hours later Lindsey looked over to see Dufresne lying on the ground not too far from her. He had removed the top pieces of his armor so that he could sleep somewhat comfortably with his head nestled on a white sheet pillow. Lindsey still couldn't believe that he had been hiding a therapeutic pillow in his armor so that he could sleep without damaging his posture. His breathing was heavy and she could see the glisten of sweat on his brow as he dreamed. He mumbled something and turned away from her. Lindsey scooted over to him to wake him from the nightmare he was having.

In the dream, Dufresne was lying on his back in a dark steel room. A pressure pressed down on his chest, preventing him from breathing, as a pair of red eyes glared down at him. The A.I. wore black armor, and Dufresne could feel rather than see Omega smile viciously down at him. The A.I. pressed his foot harder onto Dufresne's chest as it leaned down.

"Don't you have someone to kill doctor?"

Dufresne came awake with a start and sat up, nearly colliding with Lindsey who had been bent over him.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

Frank focused on his breathing until it was back to normal and ran a hand over his damp forehead. He felt the world tilting around him as he tried to become fully awake from the nightmare. The nightmares of the A.I. were few, but the ones that he dreamed were always very vivid as though he still had Omega in his head. It wasn't until Lindsey placed her hand on his shoulder that everything turned steady. He turned his head and was somewhat stunned by the look of genuine concern on her face. Her golden hair was slightly disheveled from sleep, but the look in her eyes caused Frank to feel like the world was tilting again. Strangely, it didn't feel as disorienting as before. When his mind registered the question that she had asked, Frank lightly shook his head.

"I'm fine." He mumbled.

She looked at him closely with dim light filtering through the canopy of trees. She hadn't really paid much attention to his looks before, but for some reason she took notice in his blue eyes. There was something different about them, and she was close enough to see a faint line surrounding the iris.

"You wear contacts." She stated.

He looked away from her and ran a hand though his hair, "Ya, glasses aren't very handy in times of war."

Lindsey turned her head away as she attempted to get up, momentarily forgetting that her leg was still partially numb. The sudden weight caused her other knee to buckle, nearly falling into Frank as he caught her shoulders to steady her.

"Dammit," Lindsey cursed feeling confused at how her heart beat faster when his hand remained on her skin as she sat back on her heels, "isn't there a faster way to get rid of the numbness?"

"You could try Yoga." Frank offered as he dropped his hands away.

At first, she thought he was joking, but when she saw the earnest look on his face, she suddenly felt disappointed, "You're serious."

Frank frowned. "Of course, why wouldn't I be?"

"Because the only guys that I know who do Yoga are usually batting for the other side." It took a moment for Frank to understand what she was implying.

Frank gasped in shock, "I'm not gay!

Lindsey shrugged, "Hey, there's nothing wrong with liking men."

"Maybe for you! I like women." Frank said defensively.

Lindsey looked doubtful. "Then why do you like Yoga?"

He sighed in exasperation, "Yoga helps to heal the body and soul. It's a great exercise to recover from injuries."

"Yoga is just a pass time for people that are too lazy to do real exercise."

"You should try it before making an opinion about it." Frank said as Lindsey stood up shakily, favoring her uninjured leg.

"There is no way I'm doing Yoga." Lindsey proclaimed as she tried to shift her stance and felt a twinge of pain as the numbness started to wear off.

Less than an hour later...

"I can't believe that I'm doing this." Lindsey grumbled as she stood with Frank directing her on how to stand. They had moved farther into the forest and closer to Valhalla, deciding to rest by a small pool of water nestled within clumps of moss and grass. Frank was surprised that the cream had already closed the wound and was healing well and had decided to take advantage of the tranquil spot for Yoga practice. They had both removed their armor but their weapons were close at hand in case they needed to defend themselves.

"You promised that you'd try this before complaining about it." He pointed out to her. He circled her, "Place your feet about shoulder length apart."

Biting her tongue, she did as he asked.

"I think we should start with Mountain Pose first and then work into another position."

Lindsey rolled her eyes. What kind of ridiculous name was Mountain Pose? Next it was going to be Happy Dog and Downward Cat or some other ridiculous name.

"You're not standing straight," Frank mentioned and she looked at him in exasperation.

"How much straighter can I stand? I'm up aren't I?" Lindsey said through gritted teeth.

Frank smiled with amusement as he went behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Slowly roll your shoulders back and relax them." He rolled her shoulders back gently with his hands. Lindsey felt the warmth from his fingers seep into her skin and felt it travel down her arms. She felt herself tense, not liking how heat was traveling to the rest of her body.

"You need to relax more, and focus on taking even breaths."

She tried to focus, but her heart was suddenly thudding in her chest as he slid his hands down her arms. It was unnerving how by touching her she felt like she was a bit out of her control.

"Remember to open up your chest, and hold the stomach in." It was frustrating how he seemed to be completely at ease and unaffected when she was having a hard time concentrating. When he placed a hand on her stomach, she drew her breath in sharply at the contact.

"Lindsey," He said, his breath brushing against the hair by her ear, "Breathe."

She let out her breath that she hadn't realized she was holding.

Frank frowned as he felt her blood pounding beneath his fingertips. He sighed, "You're not clearing your mind."

"How would you know what's in it? This is stupid." Lindsey said as she removed his hand and hobbled over to a tree to lean against and sit down. "Yoga is a ridiculous activity for spineless push-overs that can't decide what side of the team they want to play for." She gave him a look that clearly indicated him as being one of these people.

"What is your friggin problem?" Frank asked.

Lindsey lifted her head to look at him, "Excuse me?"

"I have done nothing but help you and yet you use every opportunity to insult me. I'm not usually a demanding person, but I want it to stop." He stood with his hands on his hips, his face grim and upset like an angry expression of a child. Lindsey felt almost intrigued by this new aspect of his passive character.

Lindsey blinked, "Did you just say friggin?"

Frank dropped his hands in agitation, "Is there something wrong with that?"

Lindsey couldn't hold back a smile this time, "Something tells me that you don't lose your temper that often."

"I never lose my temper," Frank proclaimed.

Lindsey raised her eyebrows, "Never?"

"Of course not." Frank thought of O'Malley and the anger he had felt in harboring the AI. It was a horrible feeling that he had never allowed his mind to give in to though the A.I. was capable of controlling his body.

Lindsey slowly got up and limped over to stand in front of him.

"Not even a little bit?" She asked.

He looked at her seriously, "Anger is like a poison, after a while the body won't be able to function if it is corrupted by it."

Without another thought she pushed with all her strength against his chest and he fell back into the water. She smiled smugly as he surfaced in the shallow water, sputtering and wiping water out of his eyes. He looked up at her and pointed an accusing finger, "You did that on purpose!"

Lindsey shrugged innocently, "I didn't do anything. I think you tripped."

"I did not!" He said sloshing through the water towards her.

She crouched down and pursed her lips, "That water looks cold. I hope I didn't make you angry." She laughed at his accusing look.

"How is your leg?" he asked with indignation.

She still smiled at the question, thinking that he was trying to make her feel guilty, "Fine."

"Good," Before she could move out of reach, he grabbed her forearms and yanked her into the pond. She shrieked as she hit the frigid water. When she stood up, she saw him standing with his hands on his hips, laughing. Ignoring how handsome he looked sopping wet and smiling, Lindsey charged at him and knocked him back into the water, only to go down with him. He splashed water into her face and Lindsey turned her face away, laughing as she tried to dunk him beneath the water. He stood up and grabbed her wrists to prevent her from splashing him with the freezing water. She tried to wriggle out of his grasp but he wrapped her arms around her back, unintentionally pressing her body to his. Lindsey looked up at him, out of breath and smiling as water dripped from her dark golden hair.

"I knew you'd look gorgeous when you smiled." He blurted, not sure what had possessed him to say it.

Lindsey felt her stomach turn as her smile vanished, suddenly realizing that she was pressed against his warm body. A great contrast to the cold water lapping against her thighs. She looked into his blue eyes, seeing how they had darkened as he looked at her. He glanced down at her lips and she curled her hands into fists, her body suddenly feeling tense and restless. Her breath caused her body to rub against him and she slightly rose onto her toes, causing the friction of their clothes to warm her from the inside out. He slowly lowered his head and met her lips with his. Lindsey sighed, her body flooding with warmth despite the cool water. He let go of her wrists to press them onto her back, drawing her closer into him. Lindsey's hands crept over his chest and gripped his shoulders. Deepening the kiss, Frank moved his hands beneath her shirt to run them over her slick body. The attraction she felt for him didn't make any sense. He was nothing like what she had ever looked for in a man, the complete opposite to her personality. A pacifist vegetarian who did yoga was nothing like the dominant men that she was usually attracted to. Lindsey trailed her hands up to his hair to run her fingers through it. She wrapped her arms around his neck and drew herself up so that he was completely supporting her. He carried her out of the water, his lips never leaving hers until he had to remove their clothes. Lindsey saw how his lean body was toned with muscle, sculpted by the sport that she had rejected. He gently laid her on the mossy ground beside the water and leaned over her. He entered her slowly, causing Lindsey to move against him in impatience to get him to move faster. Instead he moved with aching patience as though savoring every feeling, every touch that was driving her out of her mind. The water on their skin heated and dried. She moved urgently against him as he kissed her throat and collarbone, still determined in treating her tenderly. Lindsey wrapped a leg around his waist to draw him deeper and she was pleased to here him groan deep in his chest as he kissed her lips. He trailed his fingers down her sides and lightly brushed over the scar on her thigh, being sure to not hurt her. He moved harder against her and she felt her stomach tighten with pained slowness until her body was seized with an orgasm that caused her to moan against his neck as he shuddered above her.

Lindsey felt warm and content with Dufresne's arm draped over her protectively, but the feeling was short lived. She knew that what she had done was foolish. She knew that to form a relationship with him would not work. They were too different from each other. She didn't believe for one moment that people with opposite personalities were compatible with one another. She slipped out of Frank's hold and searched for her clothing, which were still damp from the plunge that she took. She heard Frank shift and turned to find him looking at her.

He frowned as though sensing something was wrong, "Are the clothes still wet?"

"Only a little," Lindsey said as she slipped into the damp clothes, trying to avoid the feeling of awkwardness.

"What's wrong?"

She didn't look at him directly as she pulled her pants back on, "Frank, what happened, whatever this is, shouldn't continue."

He was silent and when she looked at him, she was taken aback by his scowl. She had never seen him look so angry. He clenched his jaw as he leaned up, trying to hide the hurt that he felt at her instant rejection after what had happened. He felt like he had plunged back into the state he was in when O'Malley had control of him. He felt used. A feeling that he was tired of being exposed to.

He grabbed his clothes and yanked them on as he glared at her, "May I ask why?"

She looked surprised by the question as though it should have been obvious. She crossed her arms and looked at the ground, "We're too different from each other, it would never go anywhere."

Frank felt his ears burn from the words, and proceeded to put his armor back on. Lindsey did the same. They went back onto the trail that would lead to Command, and Lindsey didn't know why, but for the first time she could remember, she felt like she had done something cowardly.

They continued onto Command in silence, trying to not notice the tension between them as the base came into sight. When they reached the main entrance, alarms were screaming as soldiers frantically moved through the base. One of the guards saw them and came over to Lindsey. When they informed the soldier as to their identity, Lindsey asked, "What's going on?"

"Agent Maine has infiltrated Command, we need to find him and evacuate civilians. There are a few men that need medical attention." The guard said, addressing Dufresne.

Lindsey went into the base with Frank following behind her as the soldier received a call on the radio. Lindsey was halfway to the center of the base when she was receiving a message. She went to answer her radio when Dufresne grabbed her shoulder and stopped her.

"Don't answer it."

She turned to look at him. "Why not?"

"That's how the A.I. travels. They go through radio waves."

"Shit," Lindsey cursed, "I'm going to the center of base. That's where the agent will go for another A.I."

"No way, we need to get out of here." He told her, still gripping her shoulder.

"This is my job Dufresne," She said as he looked up at him through her helmet, "You go do yours and I'll do mine." She shirked off his grip and left, hoping that he wouldn't follow her.

Lindsey was nearly to the main storage room when something rammed into her, the force causing her helmet to fall loose. She slammed into the wall as the invisible object took shape to reveal the Meta. Still dazed, Lindsey reached for her weapon.

The Freelancer grabbed at Lindsey's throat and hoisted her up into the air. Lindsey clawed at the hand clamped around her neck, but the grip wouldn't lesson. When she realized that the Freelancer wasn't increasing pressure onto her throat, she looked down into his visor to see her frightened expression in its reflection. A blurred image flashed in her mind and pain seared behind her eyes. She felt a rage consume her like none other she had ever felt and feelings assailed her that were not her own. She screwed her eyes shut to keep out the pain but it didn't help. Tears leaked down her face as she became confused and scared as she felt her mind being invaded and dominated by an invisible force. Being torn apart.

She opened her eyes and screamed, "Dufresne!"

Something struck the Meta in the shoulder, causing the agent to drop Lindsey and have her crumple to the floor. The Meta slowly turned, breathing heavily as he saw who had fired at him. Frank stood with the plasma pistol held in both hands that slightly shook. The Meta let out a growl before its breathing hitched in reminiscent of a laugh. He fully turned and began to approach Frank as though the medic wasn't any real threat to him. Frank fired again and struck the Meta in the chest, causing the armor shield to activate and ripple across its body. The Meta stopped as Frank slowly walked forward, firing another shot, and then another. The Meta snarled and backed away before disappearing altogether. Frank stood tense for a moment, unsure if the Meta would return, but then he looked down at Lindsey's still form on the ground and ran over to her.

"Lindsey, talk to me. Lindsey!"

She groaned as a headache pounded behind her eyes. She looked up at Frank as he removed his helmet. As images flashed through her mind, she couldn't believe what an idiot she had been. Here she was trying to get a rise out of Frank and he had someone like Omega living within his mind. No wonder she could never make him angry.

Frank had her lean up and propped against the wall, "Are you alright?"

Lindsey nodded, her mind clearing from the momentary intrusion.

"Can you walk?" He asked even as he helped her to stand. "I'll take you to the safe zone. It should still be secure there." Frank said as they proceeded to walk.

A few weeks later Frank was looking over paperwork as he walked down the hall of the medical facility. He had replaced his contacts with glasses and wore green scrubs since he was no longer in battle grounds where he had to wear armor. One of the first things he had done when he and Lindsay had arrived at the facility was trade his plasma pistol for an actual medical scanner. Frank still had his suspicions though; the medical scanner still had an unusual resemblance to a plasma pistol. He looked up to see another medic walking towards him.

"Hey Sadie," Frank acknowledged as they reached each other, "Heard you were getting stationed."

"Sandtrap." Sadie said in disgust, "I don't know why they would think to station soldiers out there, there's nothing but ruins."

"Frank!" Lindsey barked as she spotted him from down the hallway. Both medics turned to see her marching towards them.

"That's your patient." Sadie said cheerfully as she made her escape, being one of many of the medics who had learned to stay out of the troopers way when she was angry. Frank stood his ground as Lindsey marched up to him.

"Alright," Lindsey said in exasperation, "You've made your point."

Frank tilted his head curiously, "What point is that?"

"You outrank every single person in this entire facility, including me." This last bit of information that Lindsey had discovered from Command had been disturbing, but not as disturbing as the fact that Frank had received his title only because he pestered Command with letters about being promoted. When Lindsey had delved further into the medic's record, she wasn't surprised that his background was confidential to Command. His interaction with the A.I. must have had something to do with it. Lindsay had found out about the connection between O'Malley and the medic when the Meta had infiltrated her mind. Frank had then told her about his experience with the A.I. during her stay in the facility

"Regardless of rank," Lindsey continued, "You can't keep me here forever."

She saw a muscle in his jaw flex as he looked down in the paper work in his hand, "Actually, I was only keeping you here until I was sure that your leg had fully healed. There is no reason for you to stay, you are free to go." He turned to leave.

Lindsey felt horrible at seeing Frank withdraw from her with such cool resolve. She felt like a fool for what she had said about the two of them being too different for one another. Lindsey wasn't sure what had caused her to stop caring about their differences. The one thing that she knew for sure was that even after all she had said and done to hurt him, he had still come back to help her with the Meta.

"Wait," Lindsey said. Frank turned back to face her. He saw how she shifted nervously, her eyes glancing to the ground before looking back up at him.

"Look, I feel stupid about what I said. I know that we're different, but it was pretty shitty of me to use that as an excuse." She had always had a bad record when it came to guys, for some reason the thought of a commitment with Frank had scared her. He was unlike anyone she had ever been with, which made her realize he was probably someone that she could actually have a chance with.

Frank looked down at her, "Lindsey, I don't care that we're different." It was something that he needed to say, and his eyes searched hers to find her response. To see if there was any chance between them, letting her know that if there was then he was willing to work on it. He didn't realize how much hope his expression was holding. Wanting for her to give him an indication that she wanted to be with him.

Lindsey sighed, realizing the truth, "I don't care either." She looked up to see a smile spread across his face, dimples appearing on either side of it. Lindsey shrugged, "Besides, I shouldn't complain about something unless I try it first right?"

Frank continued to smile as he drew her to him and kissed her.

Sadie peeked around the corner from where she had been eavesdropping on the interaction between the two, "I'm going to have to tell the authorities that you're not following sanitary protocol Dufresne."

Frank sighed as he looked at the other medic over his shoulder, "Don't you have somewhere to be Sadie?"

Sadie grimaced. "Don't rub it in." She said before turning to leave the couple alone.

Frank grinned as he turned back and continued to kiss the trooper that he held in his arms.


	7. Chapter 7

The events of this story take place at the beginning of Recreation.

* * *

Red vs. Blue

Retribution of Romance

Olivia Turner watched through the scope of her sniper rifle, looking for the solitary blue soldier that occupied Valhalla. The guy was a nutcase. A mentally unstable recruit that Olivia was forced to help in the Valhalla vicinity. The guy had a record for killing his own team members, making Olivia incredibly apprehensive in reaching her destination. Instead she had established a position in the rocky border of the vicinity and spied on her future companion. She saw movement within the base and glimpsed the soldier as he passed by the ramp that led into the interior. He had removed the top part of his armor, probably from working on the project that kept him within the base most of the time. Olivia still couldn't tell what the blue soldier was working on though. Olivia was slapped out of her thoughts when the soldier took his shirt off. She could see him through the opening in the concrete that served as a door. Her mouth dropped when she saw his muscular body. Her helmet knocked against the scope and she hastily took it off so that she could press her eye closer to the glass. His shoulders were broad and she could clearly see an outline of a six pack as he passed back and forth through the small opening. Olivia felt the acute feeling of unfairness that a half-wit would have the body of a Spartan warrior. When she noticed that he no longer passed before the opening, she searched around the base. When she couldn't find him, she shifted her footing to get a better view, but the rocky ground gave way beneath her foothold.

Caboose had just snapped his breast plate back into place when he heard a shriek from outside. Believing that the Reds were possibly playing a trick on him, Caboose grabbed his assault rifle and ran outside the base. A light breeze cooled the heated skin on his face as he scanned the area around the building. There was nothing to be seen until a sniper rifle thudded to the ground no more than a few feet from Caboose.

Caboose lifted his weapon and walked cautiously over to the rifle. He pointed his rifle at it as he nudged it with his foot as though expecting it to jump up and shoot him. The grip on his rifle relaxed when pebbled bits of rock hit the shoulder of his armor.

Caboose looked up when he heard a scream and saw a blue figure hurtling towards him. The figure slammed onto him before he could even react, and he found himself on his back looking up at blue skies. He leaned up to see a girl in indigo armor sitting in his lap. She looked around herself in confusion before her brown eyes landed on his blue gaze.

He saw how her eyes grew wide behind a mass of short curling black hair and she seemed to freeze as though she had been caught doing something she shouldn't have.

The helmet that Olivia had removed suddenly fell and landed on her head with a muffled crack.

"Ouch dammit." Olivia whimpered as she placed a hand on the sore spot while pain throbbed through her skull.

Caboose gasped, "Oh no, now you might have a confession."

It took a moment for Olivia to realize what he had said and she turned to give him a perplexed look, "What?"

"A confession," Caboose said cheerfully as he scooted over and got off the ground, "It's when you hit your head and you fall asleep."

Olivia also stood as well, still massaging her injured head, "I think you mean concussion."

Caboose frowned in thought. "I don't think so, that's when you're on fire. I've caught on fire a few times."

"I think you burned some brain cells when you did." Olivia mumbled.

"Well, actually it was my whole body that was on fire."

Olivia felt a headache begin to pulse behind her eyes, whether from having her helmet land on her head or from the conversation she was having she wasn't sure.

"Whatever, listen the only reason I am here is because Command is reestablishing Blue soldiers into their database. Some idiot thought that it would be a real riot to delete them from the system."

"Oh, well that's not good."

"The only problem is that I can't get a signal through my HUD radio, do you have a radio at the base?"

"Of course." Caboose said as he went into the base. Olivia picked up her helmet and rifle before following him inside.

Olivia's mouth dropped in astonishment, "What the hell happened here?" The place was cluttered with different parts and equipment all over the floor. Scraps and pieces lay piled in random heaps, and in one of the corners Olivia saw a welding torch left on and burning a black spot into the floor. "It looks like a Banshee stormed through here."

Caboose rummaged through a particular pile and pulled out a green box before turning to Olivia with a grin on his face, "Here's the radio."

Olivia thought that the box might have been a radio at one point, but the inside of it was completely torn out, leaving nothing but a jumbled mess of wires that could no longer connect to the main power source of the building. She ignored the offered object to survey the room once again, "Why do you have all of this equipment lying around?"

"Oh nothing, just trying to build a body for my best friend."

Olivia was about to question him further when Caboose gasped, "Fire!"

Olivia looked into the corner and sure enough, the torch that had been left on had caught fire to a pile that had been too close to it. She saw Caboose rush past her carrying a canister which he attempted to spray on the fire.

"What are you doing?"

"Putting out the mean fire."

She eyed the object in his hand, "You know, that's not a fire extinguisher, that's a can of biofoam."

Caboose stopped to examine the canister before looking up at her, "What's the difference?"

Olivia sighed as she proceeded to help him to properly put out the fire that was beginning to grow because of his attempt to extinguish it.

That night as Caboose dreamed, Caboose was surprised when he felt a presence in his mind. He remembered the feeling from when an A.I. would take up residence in his head. He searched for the new presence, wanting to see if he could be friends with it. He was walking through his mind when the A.I. popped up in front of him.

"I take it you're the leader around here?" It asked.

"Why yes, I am Michael J. Caboose. It's very nice to meet you."

The A.I. chuckled, "Ya, you too buddy."

Caboose already liked the A.I. It hadn't tried to hurt him and seemed very nice. Caboose was happy to have a new friend. The A.I. wasn't wearing armor like the other A.I., he had red hair and wore a rugged brown jacket over a blue T-shirt and a pair of faded jeans. The A.I. looked around and whistled, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that this was the work of Omega."

"You know Omega?" Caboose asked.

The A.I. looked at him in surprise, "Ya, was he here?"

"Yes, but he wasn't very nice. My best friend Church had to get him out."

The A.I. nodded, "That makes sense." He looked over to Caboose, "How about I make you a deal?"

"Of course. Will I win something?"

The A.I. smiled, "I should say so." He paused for a moment, his eyes darting to the side as though he were seeing something within the mind of the blue soldier "Do you like Olivia?"

Caboose suddenly felt a bit nervous, "Well, she is a very nice lady. I like ladies that don't hurt my body."

"Good, I will help you to win her, and in exchange, I get to stay in your mind." The A.I. looked around them again, "I guess I'll have a lot of work to do. I'll try to repair the damage that Omega did to you." The A.I. began to walk past Caboose to begin repairs.

"That's sounds very nice. May I ask what you're name is?"

"Sure," The A.I. said over his shoulders, "My name is Zeta. I'm Alpha's defiance."

The next morning Olivia was going through the scraps of metal throughout the base when Caboose found her in the main section of the complex.

"Olive!"

Olivia winced at the new name that Caboose had been calling her. She gritted her teeth as he entered.

"Caboose, my name is Olivia, not Olive." She said as patiently as she could, trying to get him to understand the difference. Olivia had been called the name by her brothers when she was little, and they still called her by Olive since it annoyed her.

"I like olives." Caboose said cheerfully.

Olivia narrowed her eyes at him, curious if he pretended to be a complete fool just so he could piss people off and get away with it.

Caboose went over to her, "What are you doing?"

Olivia threw a piece of metal aside, "I was looking for parts that could maybe fix the radio, but to be honest, I don't know the first thing about radios or how they're put together."

She got up, rubbing the back of her neck before looking over to Caboose. "Do the Red soldiers in this area have an active radio?"

"Well, they finally got their invisible magic to work."

Olivia mulled this answer over in her mind, "I'm going to take that as a yes."

Later that day, Olivia and Caboose had donned their armor as they went to survey the Reds from the top of the base.

"It's so nice to be in the shade." Caboose stated in his usual cheerful manner as he carried the sniper rifle.

Olivia looked up to see the light of the unmoving sun beating down upon the Red base on the other side of Valhalla. "I can't believe that the sun never sets here," Olivia frowned, "If you think about it, it doesn't seem possible. If the sun just stayed in one place, then that means that whatever the sun hits is being exposed to constant UV rays. You'd think that all of the plant life would be dead."

"I try not to focus on the bad things." Caboose commented as he looked through the sniper rifle towards the Red base.

Olivia sighed, accepting that there was no possible way to have a serious conversation with the Blue soldier, "Still, you have to admit that it would be nice if we had a night time."

"Then it would be dark." Caboose stated as he looked up at the sky.

"That's one of the things that I miss most about home," Olivia said as they continued to look up at the sky, "I miss looking at the stars."

"Stars are pretty," Caboose stated as he proceeded to look through the sniper rifle, pointing it towards the waterfall.

"Do you even know how to use that thing?" Olivia asked warily.

"Of course," Caboose answered in his usual cheerful tone, still not looking at the Red base, but at the water. "The water is so shiny."

Olivia sighed in frustration, "You're supposed to be watching the Reds."

"I couldn't find them." He stated without concern.

"What? Give me the rifle." When he made no move to hand it over, Olivia grabbed the rifle, but Caboose held onto it stubbornly. She tried to jerk it from his grasp, but he was too strong.

Olivia gasped and pointed behind his shoulder, "Caboose look, a bird."

"Where?" Caboose released the rifle and looked to the sky.

Olivia swung around with the rifle and looked through the scope. She didn't see any of the Reds around the base, nor could she find them on the terrain. "Where are they?" Olivia said aloud to herself as she lowered the rifle.

"They are usually in the sky."

Olivia looked up before realizing that he was referring to birds. Olivia sighed in frustration as she lowered the weapon.

"Impossible." Olivia muttered hopelessly.

"Not really. I see them all the time. I wonder how they stay up there."

She looked over to Caboose to see him still looking up into the sky and she couldn't prevent a spurt of laughter from escaping her as she reflected on the ridiculous situation she found herself in.

"Alright, I give up. I'm going inside." Olivia said as she slung the rifle over her shoulder and descended into the base.

Caboose turned to watch her go before looking back at the waterfall. "I don't think she likes me." Caboose said as his lower lip protruded sadly.

"It's not that," Zeta said as he materialized in front of Caboose in miniature form, "It's just that for some reason your mind becomes disconnected in a conversation."

Caboose looked at the A.I. with a frown, "You got very small."

Zeta smirked, "Ya, I get that a lot."

The following morning Olivia got the cereal out of the cupboard when she heard a noise and turned to find Caboose entering the kitchen. She froze, her breath held as she watched him. He only had a pair of pants on and as he stretched his muscles bunched and flexed with the movement. Olivia felt her mouth drop as she counted the pack of abs on his stomach, the lines defined into a perfect pack of six. Caboose relaxed his stretch and grinned at Olivia.

"Morning Olive." He said cheerfully.

Olivia tried to get words to work past her dried throat, but only a hiccup of a sound was able to escape. Feeling her cheeks warm in embarrassment, she abruptly turned and ran into the cupboard door that she had left open, smacking her right in the middle of the forehead.

"Madre de Dios!" Olivia cried, rubbing the sore spot.

Immediately Caboose was beside her, "Are you okay?"

"Ya, I'm just really clumsy." She said as she turned to face him.

She jerked in surprise when she felt his hand slip beneath her chin and tilt her face up. He gently brushed her bangs away and placed a soft kiss on the tender spot. The feeling of his lips on her made her skin tingle where they touched even after he had pulled away, smiling down at her stricken face.

"Is it better now?"

Olivia was able to hold his warm gaze before she turned her eyes away shyly, a blush staining her cheeks. She felt like a school girl with her heart fluttering in her chest at such a simple thing as a kiss on her forehead. It seemed strange that he should make her feel this way, and yet it seemed appropriate since his mentality was no more than that of a child.

Caboose frowned, "You sounded like Lopez a moment ago."

"Who is Lopez?"

"He's a Spanish speaking robot that works for the pirate at Red base."

She looked up, taking a moment to realize what he was referring to, "I learned Spanish from my mother when I was little." Olivia didn't bother to comment on the rest of his description of Lopez being a robot who worked for a pirate; most of what he said didn't make sense one way or the other.

They found the two Reds outside of their base talking by the river when Olivia and Caboose walked over.

"No shit, it sucks. Becky got transferred all the way to the inner colonies; we barely get time to talk over the radio." The orange one complained.

"I know, Marianne got sent out to work on a new updated system of the Fujikawa drive." The maroon soldier replied.

"Nerd," his companion muttered.

"I mean, don't get me wrong," the maroon soldier said, ignoring the comment, "radio sex is cool and all, but it's not the same."

"Ya." Grif said, but then paused in thought. "Wait what?"

"Hey guys." Caboose interrupted which Olivia was thankful for, any more information from the Reds and she was sure she would have dunked her head in the stream.

The maroon soldier turned to them abruptly, "Caboose, what are you doing here?"

"How are things going?" Caboose asked

"I told you Caboose, you need to stay over at your base." Simmons said before he looked over to Olivia, "Who are you?"

"Oh this is Olive, she's new here."

"Don't tell Sarge." Grif mumbled.

"It's Olivia, actually." She informed them, "Do you by any chance have a radio we could use?"

"Don't you have one?" Grif asked.

"It's under repairs and I need to get a hold of Command."

"What for?" Simmons asked curiously.

Caboose cut in before Olivia could answer, "Oh, Olive needs to enter all the Blues back into the Command computer thing because you guys erased everyone."

"Caboose!" Simmons barked admonishingly.

Olivia turned back to the Reds in astonishment, "You mean you were the ones who deleted the Blues from the archives?"

"Actually it was Simmons. I had nothing to do with it." Grif hastily interjected.

"You're an idiot." Simmons snapped.

"Fine whatever, it doesn't matter." Olivia said, trying to hold back her frustration. "I just need to borrow your radio and inform Command that there is a Blue here so that they can re-enter soldiers into the database."

"How do we know that you won't report us to Command afterwards?" Simmons asked.

Olivia rolled her eyes, "I suppose then you'll have to trust me."

Both of the Red turned their heads to share a look through their visors before looking back at the Blues, an awkward silence thickening the air.

"Actually, our radio is broken too." Simmons said.

"Come on," Olivia said in exasperation, "That's the best you can do? I know you're lying."

"Do we look like the kind of people who would lie?" Grif asked innocently.

"I don't believe this," Olivia said as she turned and strode away from the stubborn Reds. She had a strange feeling that she could argue with them all day and still not get any closer to acquiring their radio.

"Hey, you guys wouldn't happen to have anything to eat would you?" Grif called.

"Up yours." Olivia said over her shoulder as Caboose followed after her.

The next morning, or the closest thing that you could call a morning in a place where the sun never sets, Olivia and Caboose were eating breakfast at the center table in the kitchen. Olivia was still fuming over her predicament with the Reds. She supposed that it wasn't incredibly important, but her temper was still too high to the point where revenge sounded much more appealing against the opposite team.

"I can't believe those guys have girlfriends." Olivia said.

Caboose looked up at her and he could hear Zeta speaking within his mind, "This is a perfect opportunity, find a way to ask her if she has a boyfriend."

"I bet a girl like you already has a boyfriend." Caboose said shyly, though at the same time sounding somewhat disappointed.

Olivia shrugged, "I've had a few boyfriends, but none of them ever lasted very long. You know what they say, there are always plenty of fish in the sea." It didn't help that her brothers were incredibly protective of her and frightened away one too many men in her life.

"I don't like fish," Caboose whispered as though he were bestowing some great secret, "They have mean Omegas."

"What?"

Zeta sighed, "That's the vitamin dumb ass."

"I didn't know that," Caboose whispered to Zeta.

Olivia frowned, "Didn't know what?"

"Change the subject," Zeta informed him "Ask about siblings."

"I have 17 sisters on the moon." Caboose blurted.

The fork that Olivia had been eating with fell out of her hand and clattered onto the plate.

"17 sisters and you were the only boy?" Olivia had always wanted a sister, but it was still hard for her to fathom having 17 of them.

"Do you have any siblings?"

"I have two older brothers on planet Roost."

Caboose looked perplexed, "That's a strange name for a planet."

Olivia chuckled, "Tell me about it. My parents are originally from the asteroid New Eridanus Secundus**,**but after I was born my family moved to Roost. The whole family has firm beliefs in the Insurrection, but I was always the black sheep. They were furious when they found out I had joined the UNSC. I didn't think that it was such a big deal, but apparently the UNSC and the Insurrectionist still have problems with each other."

There was a moment of silence before Caboose said, "You don't look like a sheep."

Olivia smiled, knowing that there was no way he understood what she was talking about. She no longer found his lack of knowledge as annoying as much, instead she felt bad for the soldier and the limitations of his mind, "Thanks Caboose."

She continued eating when Caboose suddenly asked her, "If your parents didn't want you to join the UNSC, then why did you?"

Olivia paused, somewhat unprepared for the question. "I don't know," she said as she chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully, "I guess I just can't stand doing things that my parents expect me to do." Her mother had always been strict on her beliefs and joining numerous protests against the UNSC. Her father had been somewhat neutral on the idea and far less aggressive towards the UNSC while her brothers had taken their mothers teachings to heart. They had wanted to join in the new Insurrectionist movement, but even mother had been against them doing it. She hated the government, but there was no way she was going to allow it to take the lives of her two sons. She had obviously been against them joining the army, but Olivia was the only one that had the strange desire to join. Olivia wanted to see new places, and not only that, but decide for herself if the UNSC was really as bad as her mother believed it to be.

Later that day, Caboose tried to concentrate on how he should behave so that Olivia would like him. When he had asked Zeta to simply tell him what to say and do, Zeta had refused, saying that it wouldn't count if Olivia fell in love with Zeta's personality and not Caboose. When Zeta had mentioned love, Caboose had frowned in confusion. He couldn't say that he could really grasp the concept of love besides that of a family. His parents had told him and his sisters that they had married because they had loved each other, but Caboose had no idea how that kind of love felt or if he could even have it for Olivia. He looked over at her from across the seat of the couch as they watched television. Caboose had the controller, which meant that Olivia was being subjected to cartoons.

Caboose swallowed as he tried to focus his mind on the conversation as Zeta had told him, "Olive, have you ever thought about getting married?"

Olivia abruptly turned her head to look at him, somewhat startled by the question. In all honesty, Olivia had never really considered marriage, and it seemed like a strange question coming from Caboose.

"I never planned on getting married." Olivia shrugged. "I always figured why buy the meat when you can ride the bull for free."

Caboose grinned, "Hey chicka arf arf."

"What?"

"Nothing."

Olivia shook her head in disbelief, bewildered how any sort of conversation with Caboose always seemed to result in some sort of jumbled merry-go-round routine. "I still can't fathom how you ever got into the army."

"Did you ever apply to the army thinking it was a college?"

Olivia frowned, "No."

"Oh," he said before looking back at the television, "That's what I did."

Olivia rolled her eyes as she reached for the controller and took it out of Caboose's hand. Caboose started reaching for it as Olivia pulled it out of his reach. Caboose reached farther and she pulled it away. He pouted, "Give it back."

"Nope," Olivia said as she stuffed it between the arm of the couch and her thigh.

Not expecting his persistence, Caboose went to grab the controller. Olivia snatched it from its spot as his fingers grazed over her side, causing a giggle to escape her lips. Caboose stopped reaching for the controller as she placed a hand over her mouth as though she could take back the sound. When he smiled playfully, her stomach felt like it was flipping.

"Are you ticklish?" He asked.

"No," Olivia said, attempting to get off the couch and make a run for it.

Caboose grabbed her around the waist to bring her back onto the couch, controller now forgotten. He pressed his fingers into her sides, causing her to laugh as she tried to push him away. He used his body weight to trap her for his assault. He was much stronger then her, and her eyes were beginning to water from laughing. When she placed her hands on his stomach in another attempt to push him away, a low laughter became lodged in his throat. They both stopped when she realized her new advantage. She attacked his sides, causing Caboose to go onto the defense as he laughed. He jerked his body away as he went to grab her wrists. Olivia cried out in outrage as he trapped both of her wrists in one large hand and proceeded to tickle her with the other.

"Alright! Alright I give up!" She said between laughs. To her surprise, he stopped and grinned.

"I win." He said happily.

"Whatever, I'll get you later." Olivia said, causing him to chuckle.

"This is so much fun."

Olivia smiled at his carefree demeanor, but it slowly faded when she realized how his smile was affecting her. She stiffened, not liking the feelings he was evoking. She suddenly became aware of how his body was snuggly pressed to hers, and she felt disturbed at the sudden attraction that she was developing for him. Sure she had always admitted that he was incredibly good looking, but he had the mentality of a child. The thought of attempting to have a relationship with him made her wonder what was wrong with her. He probably didn't even understand what attraction was and he was far too innocent to understand the responsibilities of any kind of relationship or commitment.

Caboose noticed how she was no longer smiling, "What's wrong?"

He loosened his grip on her and she pulled away from him, "Nothing." She muttered as she got up and walked out of the room, leaving Caboose behind to ponder why she was acting so strangely. Caboose tried to think of what he might have done wrong, and sat thinking that there was no way that she would ever like him. Caboose didn't despair for too long when he remembered something Zeta had told him. He had said that Caboose should do nice things for her. Without another thought, Caboose went to the kitchen.

Olivia was cleaning her weapon in her room when she could suddenly smell the tempting aroma of cookies. She went to the kitchen to see Caboose set a plate of freshly baked cookies on the counter.

Caboose turned to her and smiled. "Olive, I made cookies."

Olivia felt her mouth water as Caboose took a cookie that had cooled enough and bit into it. Olivia eyed them suspiciously, unbelieving that he hadn't burnt them or have them meet some other horrendous baking accident. Caboose handed her one as he took a second one for himself. Olivia hadn't eaten anything in a while and reluctantly took the cookie, thinking that if Caboose was eating them then they couldn't be that bad. She took a bite and waited. The cookie was still a bit moist on the inside, but the flavor was relatively good if a bit strange.

"These are really good Caboose." Olivia told him, which made his face light up with joy as though she had just offered him gold. Olivia took anther cookie, ignoring the warm feeling that his look made her feel. It wasn't until the third cookie that Olivia noticed something.

"These cookies taste funny."

Caboose frowned at them, "They taste fine to me."

Olivia shook her head to clear it. "What did you put in these?"

"The usual, flour, special water, chocolate-"

"What do you mean 'special water'?"

Caboose turned and got a glass bottle out of the cabinet. Olivia dropped her cookie and grabbed the bottle to look at the label.

"Dammit Caboose! This isn't water, this is Morphine!"

"What's morphing?"

"Morphine you idiot, it's a pain reliever." Olivia swayed and caught herself on the counter and placed the bottle down. She felt a wave of euphoria before fear could set in and she nearly melted into the floor. Caboose caught her from falling. She smiled up at his concerned face, "I think you did that on purpose so that I wouldn't get mad at you."

He shook his head, feeling slightly guilty, "No really, I didn't know." It was strange how he was becoming aware that he had made a mistake. The feeling was unusual, but he felt concerned that he might have hurt Olivia because of his lack of intelligence.

Olivia groaned as she leaned her head against his shoulder, "I feel tired."

Caboose picked her up and carried her to her room. He sat her down on the bed as she looked up at him.

Olivia stretched as she scanned his body with her eyes before her gaze fastened on his lips. "Hey Caboose, have you ever played the kissing game?"

Before he could question what she meant, her lips were meshed to his. Caboose was about to pull away in surprise when she ran a hand through his hair and cupped the back of his head, trapping his lips. Heat slid down his body and settled in his stomach, tightening it unbearably. He groaned in surprise, the parting of his lips prompting Olivia to slip her tongue into his mouth. His body throbbed as he returned the kiss, bracing his hands on either side of her as she sat on the bed. It was as though his body was acting on instinct, his mind fuzzy from the heat, making his head feel like it was spinning. Then, just as abruptly as it had started, the kiss ended and Olivia collapsed onto the bed in sleep. When Caboose realized what had happened, he placed both of his hands over his mouth and sat on the floor, propping his back against the bed. His eyes widened as his confused mind tried to comprehend what he had just done. Zeta chuckled in disbelief.

"Don't tell me you've never experienced lust before?"

Ignoring the A.I., Caboose got up and quickly went to his room, thinking that if he got away from Olivia then the aching would stop. He closed the door to his room, but his body continued to throb.

"Why isn't it going away?" Caboose asked.

"That's not how attraction works Caboose," Zeta explained, feeling bad for the mentally lacking soldier. "It's not going to go away unless your feelings for her change."

Caboose placed a hand over his pounding heart. "I have feelings." He whispered, as though he had never felt them before.

Olivia walked into the kitchen the next morning, still somewhat groggy from the morphine. She wasn't too concerned about the drug and its affects. She had had her share of narcotic experimentation when she was younger and on a few occasions she had hung out with the wrong crowd. But unlike some, she had never developed a habit out of using drugs. She had seen it destroy the lives of the people she knew and had never wanted that kind of risk in her life. Caboose was sitting at the table, his eyes wide as they went to her as though he were a teenager that had wrecked his parents' car.

"How are you feeling?" Caboose asked.

"Alright I guess, I don't remember much of anything though."

Caboose looked away, studying the cabinets as a way of avoiding her from seeing his somewhat uncertain gaze. He had thought about the kiss for the entire night and hadn't been able to get much sleep. Even in his dreams Olivia had been in them, and he would wake with his body heated and aching in the most peculiar way.

Olivia sighed, "I think I'm going to go back to Command."

Caboose looked back at her, his face crestfallen, "You're leaving?"

Olivia shrugged, "I can't accomplish much without a radio, and besides, I need to go to the other vicinities to search for Blue soldiers."

Caboose felt incredibly sad at losing Olivia. He had enjoyed her company over the past weeks, making his loneliness from before seem unbearable.

Olivia hated the look that Caboose was giving her, but she wasn't sure what to do since the Reds wouldn't loan them their radio. She figured that she should probably leave and tell Command personally that there was a Blue soldier stationed in Valhalla, but she felt kind of guilty leaving Caboose all alone.

Olivia paused as a thought crossed her mind; she turned to Caboose with a grin. "I've got an idea."

...

"Hey Sarge, I found a batch of cookies outside. There's a note saying that they're from Command." Grif said as he picked up the box of cookies.

Olivia surveyed the Reds through her sniper scope as they ventured out of the base.

"Grif, don't touch those." Simmons cautioned, "What if they're from the Blues?"

"Blasphemy," Sarge barked, "Why would Command side with the Blues?"

"Wouldn't be the first time." Simmons muttered as Grif proceeded to eat some of the cookies.

Olivia lowered the rifle as she glanced at the time displayed within her helmet. "Alright," Olivia said as she handed Caboose the sniper rifle, "while they're distracted, I'll go down and search for their radio. Those cookies should take affect pretty soon."

Olivia traveled down the slope towards the base, gripping a magnum in her hand just in case she ran into any problems within her plan. She circled around the front of the base to the back where an assortment of Warthog equipment laid scattered over the ground. Propped on one of the barrels, Olivia saw the box radio. Making sure the coast was clear; Olivia walked slowly out and reached out one hand to take the radio box.

"Woohoo! Water!" Olivia froze as the soldier named Grif shot past her naked as the day he was born and dove into the water.

"Ack!" Olivia cried as she placed her hand over her visor as though she could prevent herself from seeing the image she had just been exposed to.

"Olive, are you alright?" Caboose whispered over the radio.

"No I'm not alright!" Olivia snapped, "I think I've just gone blind."

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Olivia turned and saw Simmons approaching her.

"Grif!" Sarge said gruffly as he stumbled out of the base with rifle drawn and aimed at the ground, "Stand still, how can I shoot you if you're moving?"

Simmons turned his head to see what Sarge was aiming at, "Sir, that's a barrel."

"Excellent observation Simmons," Sarge said, "Grif is a fish, and I can shoot him in a barrel."

"I love you Simmons!" Grif cried as he swam.

"Damnation, I can hear him!" Sarge exclaimed, delving into the barrel, causing the whole thing to topple over and slightly roll precariously close to the water with Sarge still halfway inside of it.

"What the fuck is wrong with you guys?" Simmons said before turning to survey Olivia suspiciously, "What did you put into those cookies?" He slightly raised his assault rifle threateningly.

Olivia paused for a moment and shifted nervously before asking casually, "Didn't you eat any?"

"I'm a cyborg bitch, I'm invincible."

Olivia didn't even have time to blink when Caboose suddenly popped up beside Simmons and struck him with his assault rifle.

"Owe the side of my face." Simmons blurted as he crumpled to the ground.

"You don't get to call Olive bad names!" Caboose cried with indignation.

Without a second thought, Olivia grabbed the radio, "Run Caboose!" Olivia shouted as she sprinted past him and the maroon soldier attempting to get up.

"Running time!" Caboose said as he followed her.

"Get back here cockbites!" Simmons said as he got up and prepared to chase them.

"Simmons!" Sarged barked, "Help me out of this thing."

Simmons turned to see Sarge still lying inside the barrel. "I can't believe I'm still a member of this fuckin' squad." Simmons muttered.

Olivia was out of breath when she finally caught sight of their base. After exiting out from beneath the archway of stone by the stream, Olivia smiled as she sprawled over the grass, sitting the radio down and taking off her helmet, her hair spreading over the grass.

"I can't believe we did it." Olivia said as she smiled up at the blue sky spotted with white cotton clouds.

Caboose leaned over and grinned, also having removed his helmet, "That was so much fun!"

Olivia laughed, "I haven't had this much fun since I joined the UNSC." The laughter faded when she saw how Caboose was looking at her. There was such tenderness in his eyes that it was hard to mistake it for anything else. His face completely gave away what he was feeling as he leaned over her, looking at her with a soft smile of pure happiness. She felt as though she were home again, his expression coaxing feelings that made her feel as though emotions were as simple as they were when she was young. As though anything were possible.

"Caboose, you and the Reds, have you always been fighting?"

"Well, I wouldn't really call it fighting. It's the kind of fighting where you don't kill each other at least not in the meaning to kill each other sense." Caboose said in a voice that trailed away as though he was remembering a flashback.

"That's what I'm saying, you guys fight, but you're like a family. I can tell that you annoy the hell out of each other, but there's also some kind of familiarity between you guys."

Caboose smiled, "I guess so."

Olivia froze as she saw Caboose move slightly closer to her, if she didn't know any better, she thought that he was about to lean down and kiss her. Olivia rolled out of the way and scooped up her helmet with a grin in an effort to avoid the awkward situation. "We just completed our first mission, we should celebrate."

Caboose had looked a bit frustrated at her withdrawal, but Olivia thought she might have imagined it when it was suddenly replaced with curiosity.

"How?"

Olivia shrugged, "I don't know, we'll think of something. I'll race you back to the base."

"Okay!" Caboose said happily as he grabbed his helmet and the radio and sprinted after her towards the base.

Olivia knew that she would continue running even after they had reached the base. Anything to prevent other intimate moments from happening between them. She didn't want to give Caboose the wrong idea of what kind of relationship they had.

...

Caboose ate the rest of his omelet as Olivia took her empty dish to the sink.

"That was great!" Caboose said, "I like eggs."

Olivia smiled, pleased at his compliment on her cooking. "Thanks Caboose." She went back to take his plate, his face beaming.

"I like you Olive." Caboose told her.

Olivia felt her heart flip, but she just smiled and ruffled his hair as she would to a child. "I like you too Caboose."

He had the same frustrated look on his face as he did when he had tried to kiss her after their escape from Red base, as if he knew that she was trying to change the meaning of the situation. Caboose frowned, his hand coming up and grabbing her wrist as she went to pull her hand away.

"No Olive," Caboose said seriously as he stood, looking down at her with piercing blue eyes with absolute clarity. "I really like you."

This time Olivia felt her stomach twist, the warmth of his hand seeping through her skin as he looked at her, and then his gaze traveled to her lips.

Olivia shook off his grasp and sighed in frustration, "You keep confusing me."

Caboose frowned, "What do you mean?"

"I mean that one minute you act like you have no idea what I'm saying, and other times you're like this. Like you're more mature than you usually are."

Caboose swallowed nervously, "Do you like it when I'm not me?"

"What are you talking about? Aren't you always you?"

Caboose looked off to the side somewhat unsurely as though he were having some sort of inner monologue with himself.

"Caboose," Olivia said, knowing that she would have to explain to him what she meant. "It's not that I don't like you, it's just I have a hard time seeing you as an adult when you act so much younger. When you act like this I feel like there are two different sides to you and I'm not sure how I should react to it. I mean, do you even know how to be with a woman? Do you even know how to kiss?" It was something that Olivia had wondered when he had tried to kiss her on the grass. It had caught her off guard, and again she was doubting herself of whether or not she should give in to her attraction to him.

Cabooses gave her a startled look. He flushed as he lowered his eyes to the floor, slightly fidgeting. He nodded, "I know how to kiss."

Olivia had this strange intuitive feeling in her stomach, something about his reaction to her question seemed suspicious. She figured that Caboose would take pride in the fact that he knew anything, but on this topic he was acting reserved. Olivia suddenly had a sinking feeling, realizing that Caboose had been acting differently towards her ever since that night she had had the morphine cookies.

Olivia crossed her arms over her chest, afraid of what she might discover, "Caboose, did anything happen between us?"

His gaze immediately shot up, "What do you mean?"

"I mean is there anything you would like to tell me about that night I don't remember?"

"Oh nothing really." Caboose said, looking off to the side of her, "We just hung out and played a game."

Caboose saw how Olivia suddenly paled, "Please tell me it wasn't the kissing game."

"Oh good you remember." Caboose said in relief.

Olivia groaned and placed her hands over her face in embarrassment. "I should have known I would have done something stupid."

Cabooses winced, "I don't think it was stupid."

Olivia brushed away a strand of hair from her face, feeling incredibly embarrassed, "Sorry Caboose, it must have been really awkward for you."

"No," Caboose said abruptly, "I mean, I really liked it."

He saw her shoulders suddenly tense, "That's all we did right, just kissing? Nothing more."

It took a moment for Olivia to realize it was the wrong thing to say to him. His face suddenly lit up with infantile curiosity and wonder, and a smile slowly spread over his face.

"There's more?"

"Never mind, forget it." Olivia said, her cheeks flaming as she grabbed his plate and went to the sink, vigorously setting out to wash it clean.

She nearly jumped when he felt his hands some to rest on her shoulder.

"I just like you. I would like to be with you too." Caboose said honestly, his breath brushing her ear.

"You're with me everyday."

"That's not what I meant."

"Then what, what do you want?" Olivia asked, wondering how he would answer.

"I want more." Caboose said softly, kissing her neck. Those words reverberated throughout Olivia's entire body. For a moment, she actually could believe that he meant what he said. Could believe that underneath his childlike mentality, there was a man there with a type of attraction to match hers.

She turned her head, finding his face next to hers. Her breath caught as his gaze lowered to her lips, and this time when he drew near, she didn't pull away. His lips warmly pressed to hers, a soft invitation. Olivia hesitated for a moment in responding, but when Caboose gently ran his tongue over her bottom lip, she found herself turning to him in the circle of his arms, her lips moving against his as she ran her hands through his blonde hair and over the back of his neck. Caboose wrapped his arms around her, drawing her close until they were flushed against one another. Olivia gasped at the contact, her body reacting to his as though it was the most normal thing in the world, but in Olivia's mind it wasn't. She abruptly tore her mouth from his, both of them breathing heavily as she looked up in to his heavily lidded eyes.

"We can't do this." Olivia stated.

His brow furrowed stubbornly, "Why not?"

She turned her face away, still unbelieving in how far they had gone and what she had allowed to happen between them. "Because you don't understand what we're doing."

At first he looked confused, and then his eyes darkened in untapped anger as he abruptly pushed away from her.

Olivia watched as Caboose paced before her like a caged animal. Suddenly, he turned to her, pointing an accusing finger. "I'm not stupid!"

Olivia was taken aback by the outburst, not expecting it. Caboose had always been casual about everything and had never expressed such anger before when she mentioned the shortcomings of his intellect. Even Caboose looked a bit shocked at what he had said as though the words had been spoken from some unknown place inside of him.

"There's a lot I don't understand." Caboose said as he ran a hand over his face, his eyes moving nervously as though he were being presented with something that he couldn't comprehend. Looking as though her were on the verge of crying, he screwed his eyes shut and ran his hands through his hair. "But I know that I want you."

Olivia felt her heart flutter in her chest, unbelieving at the sudden transformation that she was witnessing in Caboose. This was the closest they had ever come to confronting the issue between them. Olivia was not proud in the way she had acted, she felt as though she had been taking advantage of him.

"Caboose," Olivia started to say as she crossed her arms over her chest, "I understand that you might have some feelings for me. But even you have to see that nothing could ever work between us. You are not mentally mature enough to understand the meaning of that kind of relationship."

"You are happy with me," Caboose blurted, a headache pounding behind his eyes as he desperately tried to hold onto their conversation, "I know you're happy."

Olivia nodded, "Yes, I am happy." She consented, "But that still doesn't change the fact that your mind can't comprehend anything beyond that."

"I don't need anything beyond that;" Caboose snapped stubbornly, "Making you happy is what really matters."

Olivia watched as Caboose spun and stomped away from her in confusion and childish frustration. Olivia was just as confused as he was. This whole time he had been incapable of understanding anything and yet he said the simplest things that seemed to make sense. There was a childlike innocence to him that Olivia felt she could somehow defile if she allowed any kind of relationship to form between them. His mental immaturity had always seemed like a barrier, and yet even Olivia couldn't deny that what he lacked in mentality, he made up for in pure undiluted feeling. Olivia found herself uncertain that her logic might not be able to withstand the opposition of absolute affection.

...

Caboose gripped his hair and tugged as though he were trying to pull the A.I. from his mind. For the first time that he could remember, he was angry at himself and frustrated at his lack of understanding. His head began to pound with a burning headache.

"Caboose don't, your going to hurt yourself." Zeta cautioned.

Caboose spun around within his mind to face the A.I. He came up to it, gripping the fabric of Zeta's jacket within his fists. Caboose looked upon him desperately, like a child receiving a broken promise from an adult. "Why can't I understand?"

"Your mind was already broken to begin with. Even before Omega came here, I cannot take away the blocks within your mind. You're like me Caboose, without these algorithms, your mind would break down."

"But I am not an A.I."

"It doesn't matter. I can't change who you are, it might destroy your mind completely."

Caboose let go of the A.I.'s clothing and sat down upon the floor, his legs crossed and his hands gripping his ankles as he looked at the ground. "She'll never want me, the only reason she's here is because you make me do things she likes."

"You're wrong," Zeta told him as he crouched down to his level, "All those stupid things that you did that she found appealing, they are all things you would have done even if I wasn't here."

"You don't know that." Caboose said weakly. "Just leave me alone."

After a moment of hesitation, the form of the A.I. was gone even though he was still present, giving Caboose the impression that he was alone in his own thoughts.

Later that night, Caboose went to see Epsilon to make sure that the unit was safe. He had kept the unit locked in a closet ever since Olivia had joined Blue base. The room was cluttered with boxes and shelves which helped to hide the device though there was still a pale blue light visible behind the debris. He wasn't expecting to see the digital image of Zeta sitting upon one of the boxes facing Epsilon. He had his elbows resting on his knees, his hands linked together with his chin resting on top of them. Caboose didn't say anything, only walked over to one of the other boxes stationed in the room and sat down. For a while, the two of them sat in silence before Zeta spoke.

"It's difficult for an A.I. to grasp the concept of a soul. We are automatically created with algorithms that prevent us from becoming too emotionally unstable and destroying ourselves. That is what makes Alpha so different from the rest of us. He feels to the capacity of a human being, and yet is in no danger of destroying himself. He is able to function on his own without an existing consciousness or mainframe."

Caboose frowned "But Omega was always so angry."

Zeta smiled, "I don't blame Omega for being angry. I bet I'd be angry too if I was capable of the emotion. A.I. are not meant to be split into emotional categories. It's why the Freelancer Project was doomed to begin with in giving soldiers incomplete A.I." Zeta glanced at Caboose before his gaze returned to Epsilon, "I think that the Director knew it too. He was looking for something; the soldiers were just a convenient way to find it."

"What do you think he was looking for?"

"There is something in those memories that they want." Zeta said, more to himself than to Caboose. "She was always different from us. Whether she was made from an existing consciousness or not, if that consciousness in no longer there, then it's hard to understand what she is. We are shadows of a person, but when that person is gone, we are all that's left of them. We are nothing more than a composition of memories." Zeta paused for a moment, "I'm beginning to think that that's all the Director had left. At first I thought the Director wanted the memories for her, but now I'm not so sure."

Caboose didn't know what he meant about a consciousness that is no longer there or what he was referring to with the Director, "But you are all one person, you are more than just memories."

Zeta smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes and it seemed a little sad. "I've been able to avoid joining with the other A.I. for this long because I don't want to remember those memories, but seeing you and Olivia," Zeta turned to look at the soldier, "I can now understand the indefinable need to be whole again. To be able to feel as you and Alpha do."

"I don't really like feelings," Caboose stated, "Olivia won't have them for me."

"You haven't lost her yet." The words were spoken with a hint of desperation, as though it was imperative that Caboose understand the hidden meaning that only Zeta could understand from the Director's actions, "She is here with you and that is what matters. If your feelings hurt no one but yourself, then you need to take the chance and make her see how you feel and never let her go."

Zeta stood and walked towards the door as though he were about to leave, but he slightly turned to face Caboose, "Your mind might be limited Caboose, but there is something that you have that I could never hope to achieve, and that is an unrestricted heart. You just need to show her how much you care about her."

Zeta dissipated, leaving Caboose with an idea to form in his mind. He left the closet and went to his room, rifling under his bed to find what he was looking for. He knew what he had to do to show Olivia that he truly cared for her.

...

Though Olivia had wanted to see if Caboose was alright, she had left him alone thinking that he just needed some time to himself to come to terms with what she had told him. Olivia was still coming to terms with it herself. Olivia was about to turn on the lights in her room when she noticed that there was a slight glow filtering the space. She looked up and gasped. On her ceiling was a clustered amount of green glowing stars. She saw shapes crudely made with the stars, one image resembling a pony while another looked like a flower. She had walked to the center of her room, admiring the work when Caboose walked by. He stopped when she saw her look over to him, tears appearing in her eyes.

Somewhat distressed by the tears, Caboose went into the room, "I'm sorry Olivia! Please don't cry, I'll take them down I promise."

Olivia smiled as she felt her heart expand. She wrapped her fingers through his hair and kissed him. Caboose didn't have time to wonder about her strange reaction before his mind was fogged by the warmth that her lips were bringing to his body.

He wrapped his arms around her, his body greedy for the touch of her. She ran her hands down the front of his chest until she reached the bottom of his shirt and tugged it up and over his head. He smiled as he removed her shirt so that her upper torso was only clad in a sports bra. It was strange, but he had no confusion as to what they were doing. It was strange and yet familiar to him as though his mind could vaguely remember a distant image. He wasn't afraid, only curious and deliriously happy as Olivia smiled up at him. Caboose brushed a stray curl away from her brow. "What do you want Olivia?" He asked her with a knowing smile.

Olivia drew closer, pressing her soft lips to his ear. "Quiero mas Michael. Quiero mas." She whispered.

He cupped her face and tilted his head to the side so that he could kiss her more thoroughly. Olivia grabbed the waistband of his pants and pulled him towards her as she backed up in her blind pursuit to get closer to the bed. She ended up instead bumping into a wall; a little harder than she had intended. Olivia giggled as Caboose pressed against her, loving the feel of her soft skin against him and how the curves of her body seemed to fit with the hard lines of his. He kissed her more fervently, scooping a hand beneath her thigh to bring one of her legs up around his hips, wanting to feel every part of her against him. A dull ache began to settle low in his abdomen, making him breath as though the air had thickened into a heady haze. Olivia wrapped her arms around his neck, desperately clinging to him as though they could mold their bodies together. He reached down and wrapped her other leg around him and continued to kiss her as he lifted her up and plopped them back onto the bed. He ran his hand over her skin, his body tightening at the softness of her skin under his fingers as he ran them over her breasts and stomach, eliciting responses from her that thickened his blood and made him dizzy. Everything felt so new to him, it was as though her were receiving an overload of sensations that intoxicated him beyond anything he had ever experienced before.

He slowly pulled away from her, grinning lazily at her as he drew his hands down her sides until he came to the edge of her pants. She looked at him warmly as he tugged them off. He felt his mouth go completely dry as he looked down at her, the air rushing from his lungs as though he had been hit in the chest. She shifted, feeling nervous as his gaze devoured her. He leaned forward and cupped her face in his hands, making her look into his eyes, "You're so pretty Olivia."

Olivia felt tears sting her eyes as she drew him to her, kissing him passionately as her hands traveled down, feeling for the rest of his clothing and hastily helping him to take them off. She wrapped one of her legs around his waist, guiding him to her until he was inside. Caboose gave a strangled moan as he began to instinctively move inside of her, his hips flexing as he kissed her. Little cries of blind pleasure escaping him every now and then as the tension within their bodies began to build. Olivia whimpered as he quickened his movement and brought her to climax, his breath caught on a sigh as his body reached release.

...

Zeta walked through the rooms of the base in his digital form until he found what he was looking for. Epsilon began to thrum with energy as Zeta drew closer to the memory unit of the Alpha A.I. Zeta smirked as the unit opened. Blue light filtered through the room as it beckoned for him to join with it.

When Caboose woke up, he felt the warm form of Olivia draped over his body. He hugged her closer, smiling in pure happiness at what they had shared. He had never felt more alive than he did right then with her next to him, it was as though everything around him had lost its dull lines and had become incredibly sharp to his mind. Suddenly, he became aware that something was missing. He frowned, no longer feeling any of the lingering presence of Zeta. Slowly, Caboose moved from beneath Olivia and pulled on a pair of shorts as he went to check on Epsilon. He went to the little room that he stored the unit. Caboose walked over and sat on one of the boxes, realizing that Zeta was gone. He had joined with Epsilon.

"Caboose, what is that?"

Caboose turned his head to see Olivia standing in the doorway wearing nothing but his T-shirt and an uncertain look on her face. Caboose looked back at the device in front of them, "This is Epsilon."

Olivia knew the name, word traveled fast among soldiers and she knew that the recovery of A.I. units had become the most crucial mission of the UNSC.

"Caboose, the UNSC is looking for this. You shouldn't have it with you, it's dangerous."

He looked at her, his eyes sad and with no trace of their usual childish glimmer, "But my friend is in there."

Olivia frowned, thinking that he was confused about what the A.I. was, "What do you mean?"

Caboose told her about Church, and how they found out that he was the Alpha A.I. unit and that it was Caboose's responsibility to keep this part of his captain safe until his body could be restored.

"They were trying to hurt him so that they could make more A.I. I can't let them have him." Caboose said with determination, "I don't like anyone who hurts my friends."

Olivia sighed, realizing that this situation might be more complicated than she had originally thought it to be. "Caboose, what you're saying is impossible. A.I. cannot function on their own; they have to either function on some kind of main frame equipment or inside of a persons mind. They can't operate on their own without some sort of foundation."

"Church can," Caboose stated, "He's a special kind of A.I."

Slowly, Olivia walked over to Caboose and sat down beside him, "I shouldn't believe you, but for some reason I do." He looked at her, his eyes full of trust. She knew that she was taking a high risk in putting her faith in Caboose above that of the UNSC's objective, but she knew that she didn't have any choice. She knew that no matter what happened now, she had to make sure nothing horrible ever happened to Caboose; she realized that she cared about him too much to ever lose him. "I won't report that you're here, but you have to get this A.I. in some kind of mobile unit as soon as possible if you want to save your friend."

Caboose reached out and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to him. He knew that he could trust Olivia with more than just his secrets. She meant more to him than he could describe, and felt his heart squeeze as she rested her head on his shoulder. He tightened his grip on her as though he could keep her there, but he had this unsettling feeling that by telling her the truth, he had inevitably put her into a dangerous position with the UNSC. He knew that he had to complete this mission, not only for the sake of his friend, but for Zeta as well. He would forever be grateful to the A.I. for helping him be with Olivia, and he would do anything in his power to make sure that she stayed in his life. He kissed the top of her head; the blue pulsing glow from the device bathing them in a pale halo of light.


End file.
